Auradon Day
by Astral Wish
Summary: (Sequel to The Beginning of Ben's Reign) After the events of Mal's cotillion, the students of Auradon Prep are counting down the days in the 3 months until Auradon Day, the biggest holiday in the country. In the meantime, they face new challenges and adventures as old faces return and new faces come to Auradon Prep, and new villains emerge.
1. Re-entering Auradon

Chapter 1: Re-entering Auradon

Mal was finally adjusting to her life as a princess, or, more formally, "Lady of the Court of Auradon". Which she thought was a mouthful.

It had been a rough few months, training to become a princess for the cotillion Ben had set up for her. In fact, she'd gotten so stressed out, that she'd broken up with him and then fled to the Isle.

Thankfully, she and Ben had gotten back together at the cotillion. In fact, they'd even shared their first kisses! And now everything was perfect. Well, almost perfect.

Hayden, son of Hades, and Eli, son of Elsa, and his cousins Andrew and Kris, children of Anna and Kristoff, were still at each other's throats for Hayden's dad cursing Andrew before his birth.

Also, whenever Mal was around, Hayden looked at her strangely, even though Fran, daughter of Judge Claude Frollo, had been trying to get him to like her for months.

And worst of all, Hayden, Fran, Harley, son of the Queen of Hearts, and Claire, daughter of Clayton, were getting more and more frustrated with Ben by the day for failing to maintain his promise to bring their siblings to Auradon.

Mal shuddered as a cold autumn wind blew through the hallway, and Ben asked, "You okay, Mal?"

"I'm fine. I just thought autumn in Auradon would be warmer." Mal complained, zipping her jacket up.

"Yeah, autumn's rather chilly. It's a really pretty season, though. Have you been on any nature walks recently?" Ben asked.

"I've been to the school garden. It's lovely. I had no idea that autumn could be so beautiful." Mal said, smiling at her boyfriend.

Ben opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off an excited voice shouted, "BEN!"

The sound of running footsteps echoed through the hall, and then Ben stumbled as someone small tackled him with a hug.

The girl had her arms wrapped around Ben's lower chest, and was wearing a teal and lavender striped blouse with a white skirt with a gold stripe on the hem, pink frilly socks, and white Mary Jane shoes. Her light brown hair was tied back in pigtails, and when she pulled away from Ben, her smile showed pink and purple braces on her teeth. She looked to be about Dizzy Tremaine's age.

"You remember me, right? Have I been gone for so long that you don't remember me?" the girl asked, staring at Ben expectantly.

A smile quickly spread on Ben's face as he cried, "Chelsea?!"

"You do remember me!" Chelsea said gleefully, bouncing up and down.

"Yeah, of course I do! I'm sorry, I forgot today was the day you were coming back from your study abroad program! Where's everyone else?" Ben asked excitedly.

"Hopefully not too far behind. I ran ahead because I really wanted to find you!" Chelsea explained.

"Chelsea!" a female voice called from down the hall.

A boy with curly brown hair, thick dark glasses, a red sweatshirt, brown khaki pants, yellow shoes, and a large watch walked down the hall towards them, alongside a boy with straight black hair, a blue polo shirt, a red bow tie, gold colored jeans, and red shoes who was holding hands with a tan girl with golden hair, a yellow dress under a white faux fur cardigan, and shiny gold boots.

"Please don't run off like that! You could've gotten lost! Or worse!" the girl in yellow complained.

"Sorry, I just really wanted to see Ben again." Chelsea said, not sounding sorry at all.

"Hey, guys." Ben said beaming.

"Hi, Ben." the boy with dark hair said.

"Hello again, Ben." the boy with glasses said.

The yellow girl curtsied and said, "Votre Majeste."

Mal noticed that she had a thick French accent.

"Lucille, there's no need to bow to me or call me Your Majesty in French." Ben said uncomfortably.

"But you're our king!" Lucille said, rising out her curtsy, "You must be treated with respect at all times."

"Lucille…" Ben said sadly.

Lucille suddenly burst out laughing and said, "For goodness sakes, Ben, I was just teasing you! Honestly, you thought that being crowned king would alter our friendship, even though we've been friends since we were little?!"

"Oh, I can't believe I fell for it!" Ben said with a laugh, "Gosh, I'm sorry, Lucille!"

"Uh, hi. Who are you guys?" Mal asked awkwardly.

"Oh, you must be Mal, Ben's girlfriend. It's wonderful to finally meet you. I wanted to introduce myself at Ben's coronation, but I lost you in the crowd and never found you again, and then I wasn't there for your cotillion. I'm Lucille, daughter of Lumiere." Lucille said kindly.

"My name's Sam. I'm Snow White's oldest son and Lucille's boyfriend." the boy with the black hair said.

"My name is Connor. My father is the famous Cogsworth." the boy with glasses said.

"And I'm Chelsea, daughter of Chip!" Chelsea said, beaming.

"They're all some of my childhood friends." Ben explained.

"Oh. It's nice to finally meet you." Mal said kindly.

"It's nice meeting you, too." Lucille said.

"Oh, for heaven's sakes!" Connor cried, walking over to the window, "Who on earth left the windows open? No wonder this school's so cold!"

"Connor, I'm sure there's a good reason why the windows are open. Maybe Fairy Godmother thought the school was too stuffy with the heat on high and wanted to add some cooler air." Sam said calmly.

"It's not just about the cold! What about the wind?! Imagine what could happen if it blew all the loose items around. Someone could have paper fly in their face, walk into a pole, and get a bloody nose! Or a person could slip on a leaf and hurt themselves! The windows _must_ be closed!" Connor announced.

Mal stared, confused, as his friends tried to reassure him, and Ben leaned over and whispered, "Connor's rather obsessive-compulsive. If something's out of order in his mind, he imagines the worst case scenario and insists it be corrected."

"Ah." Mal mumbled.

"Connor," Ben called, joining the conversation, "I'm sure if Fairy Godmother wants them closed, she'll close them. You might get in trouble for closing them without her telling you too. Just leave them alone, alright?"

Connor huffed, walked away from the window, and grunted, "Fine."

"Also, Lucille, I have news for you." Ben said hesitantly.

"Is it bad?" Lucille asked, noticing Ben's tone.

"Not necessarily. But I'm not sure how you'll take it." Ben said, looking nervous.

"Okay…?" Lucille asked, starting to look nervous.

"You're going to be getting a roommate...but it's going to be a girl from the Isle of the Lost." Ben said slowly.

Lucille gasped, and she and Mal said together, " _What?!"_

"You're finally bringing Hayden, Harley, Claire, and Fran's siblings over?!" Mal asked excitedly.

"Yeah. Cotillion was a good reminder that I need to start bringing the Isle kids over. And their siblings sound like a good place to start. Hayden, Claire, Fran, and Harley were right. It's past time they came." Ben said certainly.

"Ben, that's great! Hayden and the others will be thrilled!" Mal cried, hugging him.

"Well, I'm not! I'm the exact opposite of thrilled!" Lucille cried, fanning her face and breathing heavily.

"Lucille, I thought you said you sympathize with the VKs." Ben said, disappointed.

"I _do!_ But rooming with one is crossing the line for me! We'll constantly be fighting, and I hate fighting! Not to mention, think of this girl's personality. If she's The Queen of Hearts daughter, she'll be bratty and temperamental, if she's Frollo's daughter, she'll be cold and cruel, if-!" Lucille protested.

"You'll be rooming with Hades's daughter, Hazel." Ben explained.

"Oh that makes me feel _so much better!"_ Lucille yelled, "My roommate is not only going to be evil, but she'll have magic! Now she'll have to potential to turn me into a frog! Or a bear! Or a candelabra! I won't go through with it!"

Lucille stomped her foot at the end of her statement, and Mal thought, _Wow. Drama queen, much?_

"Lucille, I really think you should give this girl a chance." Sam said kindly.

"Sam, I'm going to rooming with the daughter of _Hades!_ Who's _evil!_ Wouldn't that scare you, having to room with someone like that?" Lucille asked, fanning her face harder.

"Yes, but maybe you should try to see the good versus the bad. Your father never gave up on seeing good in the Beast. And my mom always tells my siblings and I to try to see the good in everyone and in every situation. I think you should apply that, too." Sam said empathetically.

"He's right, Lucille. If I hadn't given the VKs a chance, none of them would be here now, and I certainly wouldn't be dating Mal. Maybe your friendship will inspire Hazel to be good." Ben suggested.

Lucille huffed and said, "Fine. I'll try. I'll be super generous, kind, and patient. But, Ben, I hope you know what you're doing."

"Trust me, after dealing with two groups of VKs coming to Auradon and actually going to the Isle of the Lost, I think I know what makes the evil VKs tick. And I'll have Mal and her friends to turn to if I need help."

Lucille and Connor looked skeptical, but they nodded along with Sam and Chelsea, who looked more confident.

"Wait, you actually went to the Isle of the Lost?! When?! How?! Why?!" Connor asked.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later. Right now, I need to talk to Hayden, Fran, Claire, and Harley about their siblings coming." Ben said, looking at his watch.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Mal asked.

"Yeah, if you wouldn't mind." Ben said, smiling at Mal.

"Not at all." Mal said, smiling back at Ben.

"See you later, guys." Ben said, smiling at his friends before walking away with Mal.

"Ben, your hands are shaking." Mal noticed, while waiting in Ben's office for Claire, Harley, Fran, and Hayden.

"I'm just...a bit nervous about what's going to happen next. Everyone's counting on me to reform all these villain kids, and after all the problems that happened when you and your friends came over-er, no offense-and then Hayden and his group transitioned...do you think I can do it? It seems like it's getting harder instead of easier." Ben confessed.

"Of course you can!" Mal cried, putting her hand on Ben's shoulder, "Like you said earlier, you know now how evil villain kids operate, and you have the eight of us to help you if there's a problem. Nothing's going to happen, Ben. I promise."

A knocking on Ben's door called them back to reality, and Ben said, "Come in."

Hayden, Fran, Harley, and Claire came in, looking grumpy. Harley was still in his baseball uniform, dirt covering his shirt and pants. Harley was so good at baseball, that the coach had made him team captain, and he was leading the team to record wins like they'd never seen. The stadium was now swarmed with cheering fans whenever they had a game, with Ruby cheering the loudest, often times accidentally yelling in her sister Anxelin's ear.

Claire was wearing a blue Auradon Knights t-shirt with grey sweatpants and her usual red high tops, covered in sweat from having just come out from training with the team. Claire had gotten teased a lot by players on other schools teams over the months for being the only girl on the Knights team, but had quickly shut them all down by helping the Knights tourney team win most of their games. Now there were stories of schools around the country adding girls to their tourney teams, and petitions to the Professional Tourney League to change the rule preventing girls from playing. Her boyfriend Mason and his triplet younger sisters May, Maria, and Meredith made sure to never miss a game. In her free time, she was spending time with her beloved Outdoors Club, who had taught her how to swim and were helping her slowly conquer her fear of heights.

Fran had her beautiful caramel hair tied back in a long braid, and was wearing an apron covered in flour over her purple shirt, mauve jacket, black leggings, and red ankle cut heeled boots. She'd put on red lipstick, glittery eyeshadow, and a pumpkin spice perfume to try to impress Hayden, but it hadn't been very effective. Fran had quickly discovered that she was a natural at baking-she could make anything. Her favorite part of the week was when she was able to meet up with the others in Baking Club and make delicious food. She'd even make things outside of the club, and the school couldn't get enough of it. Fran kept saying how much she wished she could share her goodies with the kids on the Isle, though.

Hayden wore a gray shirt that said "Trust me, I'm a doctor...in training" with a black medical cross on it, a ripped blue denim vest over it, dark distressed jeans, and black sneakers. Hayden claimed he was enjoying his new life in Auradon, but he seemed depressed and wouldn't admit why. The only ones who seemed to know were Fran, Evie, Audrey, Jane, Lonnie, Ally, and Ruby, who were being super tight lipped about it.

Hayden looked at Mal strangely again as he walked in, which made Fran bite her lip and look at the ground for a second, which made Hayden and Claire stare in confusion.

"Hi, guys." Ben said cheerily, smiling.

"Hey, Ben." the four of them said curtly, returning to frowning at Ben.

"Take a seat. We have something very important to discuss." Ben said, gesturing to the four chairs in front of his desk.

Claire, Fran, Harley, and Hayden sat, and Ben said, "So, I know I promised you guys that I would bring your siblings over as soon as possible."

"And it's been 3 months." Harley said coldly.

"Yeah. Uh, so after giving it some thought, and reflecting on the events of Mal's cotillion, I've decided that it's time to honor my promise. I've sent letters to your siblings inviting them over at once." Ben said excitedly.

"Really?!" Claire, Fran, Harley, and Hayden cried, rising to their feet.

"Yep." Ben said, beaming.

Fran squealed and leaned over the desk to hug Ben, who stood from his chair to hug her back, Harley did a victory dance, Hayden was smiling for the first time in a while, but Claire looked concerned.

"What's wrong, Claire?" Mal asked, making everyone pause and look at her.

Claire pursed her lips, put a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "I'm worried our parents won't let them over, since Auradon changed us to be good. What if they're so afraid of them becoming "corrupted" that they refuse to let them go?"

"We'll deal with that if and when that happens. I swear I'll do everything in my power to make sure your siblings come to Auradon." Ben reassured Claire.

"Anyway," Ben continued, sitting back in his chair, "The reason I brought you all here isn't just so I could tell you the news. You all know your siblings best, so I was hoping you guys would give me information that could help us prepare for and deal with them."

Ben looked expectantly at Claire, and she flinched and said, "W-well, uh...he's good, so you shouldn't have to worry about him. But...he'll need...special assistance."

Claire's voice choked up as tears began rolling down her face. Harley held her hand, Fran got up and hugged her, and Hayden rubbed her back comfortingly.

Mal felt a sharp pang go through her heart as she remembered Clay Clayton. The poor boy got made fun of such much in school back on the Isle. She couldn't imagine living in his world.

"'Special assistance?' Why?" Ben asked, looking concerned.

"Her brother's-" Mal started.

"No," Claire interrupted, taking a deep breath, "I'll tell him myself. My brother, Clay...he's...he's…"

Claire took another shaky breath and choked out, "He's blind."

Ben's face turned sorrowful, and he said, "Oh. I'm sorry, Claire. Was he born that way?"

Claire shook her head and said, "It was taken from him. He used to be very violent, he'd try to pick fights with whoever crossed him. Especially the Gaston boys, we had a huge rivalry with them on the Isle. One day, one of Gaston's boys, Gary, was threatening me, so to take his attention off me, he challenged Gary to a fight at his dad's business, Gaston's Duels Without Rules. Almost everyone at school showed up to watch them fistfight. When the match started, everything looked like it was going to be fine for Clay, but then...Gary landed a strong right hook just to the side of his right eye, and Clay collapsed onto the ground like a rag doll and didn't get back up. Gary was about to maul him to death, but then I stepped in and took him down. I carried him to the medic, and he said that Gary had hit a nerve or something with such force that he permanently damaged it, and Clay would lose his vision. Clay woke up completely blind, and he's been that way ever since. It did teach him humility, though. That's what turned him good."

"That's horrible! Why would someone run a business like that? That sounds like a place where someone could die!" Ben cried, horrified.

Mal pursed her lips and said, "Some people have."

Ben turned pale and quickly made a note on a notepad.

"I'll talk to Fairy Godmother, see what we can do to support Clay. I've never met another blind student, so I'm not sure what accommodations to give him, but I'm sure Fairy Godmother will be able to give him what he needs to succeed." Ben said, trying to reassure Claire and focus on something other than that gruesome story.

"Fran?" Ben asked, clearing his throat as he turned to her.

"My sister's a lot like how I used to be. Cruel, stuck up, strict, manipulative, condescending, and haughty. She hates our dad. But she loves me, so there's potential for goodness." Fran said, clenching her fists.

Ben made notes, and turned to Harley.

"Harper's everything you'd expect the Queen of Hearts's daughter to be. Short-tempered, bossy, vain, demanding, sassy, sarcastic, and just mean-spirited. She's like an Auradon princess gone bad. She's not afraid to hurt people, either. Harper doesn't beat people up like I did, but she will slap you, stomp on your toes, or kick you in the shin if you aggravate her enough. And it _hurts_ when she does it. Harper wears heeled boots with steel in the toes to make sure it's painful when she stomps or kicks, and she slaps with all her strength." Harley reflected.

"Got it." Ben said, finishing his notes and Harper.

He turned to Hayden and said, "And your siblings?"

"Well, I'm not too worried about Hadie. He's one of those villain kids like Dizzy-a good kid who had this misfortune of being born to an evil parent on an evil island. He does have the same fire issue I do, though." Hayden reported.

"'Fire issue?'" Ben repeated.

"Hair and fists ignite when we're angry." Hayden explained.

"Ah," Ben said, making a note of that, "And Hazel?"

Hayden winced and said, "Yeah, about her...if there's any VK who's going to be coming that you should be worried about, it's Hazel."

"Why?" Ben asked, frowning.

"You know how I said I was the most powerful VK on the Isle when I first arrived?" Mal asked.

"Yeah?" Ben said, turning to her.

"That was a lie. It's actually Hazel. She's _insanely_ powerful. If there wasn't a barrier around the Isle preventing magic, she'd probably have set up a dictatorship with her in charge of everything." Mal admitted.

Hayden, Claire, Fran, and Harley nodded in agreement and shuddered.

"Wow. Why's she so much more powerful than everyone else? Who's her mother?" Ben asked.

"We don't know. Only the adults know, and they're being super tight-lipped about it. Most of us think that it's one of Madam Mim's adult daughters, but we're not sure." Hayden admitted.

"Got it." Ben said, making some quick notes, "Thanks, guys."

"Thank _you,_ Ben. You have no idea how much this means to us!" Harley cried, beaming from ear-to-ear.

"So, I need to talk to Fairy Godmother now. If you all wouldn't mind leaving. Including you, Mal." Ben said kindly.

"Oh, yeah, of course. See you later, Ben!" Mal called, getting up from the edge of Ben's desk.

"Hey, don't forget about our date this time!" Ben said as Mal walked out with the other VKs.

"Right! That's Saturday, right?" Mal asked.

"Bingo!" Ben said, winking at Mal.

Mal blushed and said, "I'll put it in my phone."

"You're the best! Love you!" Ben called as Hayden closed the door behind him, making Mal's face redder and Hayden cringe.

"You okay?" Mal asked, noticing Hayden's face.

"I should go." Hayden said hoarsely, walking away swiftly.

"Hayden!" Fran cried as he walked away, her eyes starting to shine.

Tears started falling out of her eyes, and she ran away sobbing.

"Okay, this charade has gone on for too long. We need to get to the bottom of what's going on." Harley said strongly.

"Agreed. I'll go talk to Fran, since she's my roommate." Claire suggested.

"Evie seems to be in on whatever this is, too, so I'll talk to her." Mal said.

"Then I'll talk to Hayden, since he's my roommate." Harley said, nodding affirmatively.

Claire, Harley, and Mal walked off in different directions, determined to get to the bottom of this 3 month mys


	2. Broken Hearts

Chapter 2 - Broken Hearts

Harley marched into the dorm he shared with Hayden, ready to give his best friend a thorough chewing out, but paused when he saw the state Hayden was in.

Hayden was sitting on the edge of his bed, his face buried in his knees, and his arms hugging his legs, sobbing.

"Hayden?" Harley asked, sitting next to him, "What's wrong?"

Hayden lifted his head, his face wet from tears and eyes bloodshot.

"It's nothing. I'm fine," he lied.

"No, you're not. You've been in this depressive state for _months,_ Hayden! We're worried about you! If you care about yourself, let us help you!" Harley cried.

Hayden shook his head and croaked, "You wouldn't understand…"

"Try me." Harley challenged.

When Hayden still said nothing, Harley sighed and said, "Look, Hayden, you can't keep this up. Everyone in school's figured out that something's wrong with you, and lying to yourself isn't going to help. C'mon, man. You know you can tell me anything!"

"I...I have a broken heart." Hayden croaked.

Harley raised an eyebrow and asked, "From what? Have you secretly been seeing someone?"

Hayden shook his head and confessed, "From Mal. I still love her, but she's with Ben."

Harley's eyes went wide, and his mouth dropped with shock.

"Dude…" he whispered.

"I know, it's wrong, but...I just can't stop thinking about...what-what could've been if I hadn't...if my dad hadn't-!" Hayden stammered before bursting into sobs again.

"I'm happy for Mal and Ben. They're a great couple. I'm glad she's with someone who makes her happy. But I lost the most incredible girl! And I'll never get her back." Hayden continued through the sobs.

"I know. And I could see that she really loved you too, once. But she's moved on, man. And now, it's time for you to do the same." Harley said gently.

Hayden a short bark of sarcastic laughter and said, "That's easier said than done. None of the girls at school are into me."

"Because you've been stuck in a depressive shell for so long that you're hiding your true colors. I'm sure if you acted more like yourself, you'd have girls attracted to you like flies to honey. And maybe the breakup between you and Mal was meant to happen. Maybe she really wasn't meant for your because there's someone else here who _is._ Maybe your dad forced you to break her heart because he knows something you don't." Harley suggested.

"You're not making this any easier!" Hayden growled, his fists and hair starting to ignite.

"I'm just trying to give you some tough love. My point is, you can't dwell on the past forever. You need to find someone who can help you move on. I can help you with that if you want me to. Okay?" Harley asked.

Hayden nodded, and said, "Thanks, bro."

"'Bro?'" Harley asked.

"Yeah, you're like my...what's the phrase the AKs use...brother from another mother." Hayden said, smiling a bit.

"I like it, _bro._ " Harley said, beaming.

Hayden smiled a bit, but then his face drooped and said, "Can you give me some space. I need some time alone to sort through my feelings."

Harley nodded and walked out of the dorm, shutting the door behind him and shooting a quick text to Claire and Mal, "Meet me in the library. Something very important to discuss!"

 _At the same time…_

Claire walked in the dorm she shared with Fran to find her laying down on her bed, her face buried in her pillow, sobbing.

Claire paused, not sure how to handle this, and quietly walked towards Fran.

She lightly tapped Fran on the shoulder and mumbled, "Fran? You okay?"

Fran suddenly sprang into action, grabbing Claire's wrist and twisted it, making Claire yelp and her eyes water.

" _Claire!"_ Fran cried, recognizing her roommate and letting go of her wrist.

"I'm sorry," Fran said shakily as mascara stained her tears ink black, "I guess my instincts from back on the Isle haven't quite worn off yet."

"It's fine," Claire said, wiping her eyes on her shirt sleeve and on the bed next to Fran.

"So, what's been going on. Why have you and Hayden been so upset lately? Have you two started some kind of drama club?" Claire joked half-heartedly.

Fran shook her hand and whimpered, "Have you ever known what it's like to be in love with someone who doesn't love you back?"

"Uh...no." Claire said, confused.

"Right, Mason's your first boyfriend. I keep forgetting that." Fran said, sitting up.

"Who are you in love with that doesn't love you too?" Claire asked.

"Hayden." Fran whispered shakily.

" _What?!"_ Claire cried.

Fran nodded and sobbed, "But it's hopeless. I've seen the way he looks at Mal. He's still in love with her. I've been trying to get him to like me for months, but nothing's worked. I don't know what to do."

Claire sat silent for a while, and then sighed.

"To be honest, Fran, neither do I. Maybe you could try finding another guy?" Claire suggested.

"I've tried. All my thoughts keep wandering back to him." Fran whimpered.

She then stood up and announced, "I need to go bake something. Working with my hands helps me feel better."

"...Okay, bye." Claire said awkwardly as she left.

Claire's phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out to see a text from Harley.

Claire got to her feet and walked to the library, leaving a note for Fran to tell her where she'd gone.

 _Also at that time…_

Mal knocked on the closed door to her dorm frantically, determined to get answers.

"Come in." Evie said in a friendly manner.

Mal opened the door, and then took a step back. She had not expected Evie be sitting on the floor of her dorm with Audrey, Jane, Ruby, Lonnie, and Ally sitting next to her in a circle.

"Hi, Mal!" Everyone said.

"Uh, hi." Mal said awkwardly, leaning against the door, "Evie, do you have a minute to talk?"

"Sure, just let me finish with them first." Evie said politely.

"Okay. I was just going to talk to you about why Hayden and Fran have been acting weird." Mal said, shrugging and turning towards the door.

She stopped though as the girls in the circle gasped, and she head the clatter of a dropped teacup.

Mal turned to see the girls staring at her in shock.

"You mean, you _know?!"_ Jane asked, looking both amazed and horrified.

"No, I was just going to ask Evie. But it looks like you guys know, too." Mal said.

All of the girls in the circle looked around the room at everything except Mal, and Audrey cleared her throat.

"Why won't you guys just tell me?" Mal asked, joining her friends in the circle.

"Well, you see, Mal, it's a complicated issue. We're not sure how you'll take it." Ally said sheepishly.

"I'm a tough girl. I'm sure I can handle it." Mal asserted.

"We know, it's just...that isn't the only issue. We're worried it may interfere with your relationship with Ben." Ruby responded, her hair graying.

" _What?"_ Mal asked, confused.

"I think we should tell her. She needs to know the truth." Lonnie said firmly.

"I agree. My mom always says honesty is the best policy. Plus, she might be able to help us." Jane said.

"But Ben and Mal's relationship could suffer!" Ally cried.

"I doubt it. They've been together for so long, and grown so close, I don't think anything could tear them apart at this point." Evie countered.

"Uh, excuse me," Mal butted in, raising her hand, "Hi, still here. Are you going to tell me what going on or not?"

The girls looked at Evie, and she sighed and said, "Okay, fine. The truth is, Mal, the reason Hayden's so upset is because he's still in love you with you. He wants you back, and he's broken-hearted because you're with Ben. And Fran's upset because she's in love with Hayden, but he wants you. So we've been trying to figure out how to bring Hayden and Fran together."

"We're sorry if this makes things...awkward." Audrey said, giving a fake smile to try to help Mal feel better.

But it didn't help. Mal's mind was reeling, trying to take in everything she'd just heard. Her cheeks were burning, her heart was pounding, and she felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Mal?" Evie asked, concerned.

"I need to go." Mal said, running out the door, ignoring the text in her phone.

 _Ben..._ Mal thought frantically as she ran, _Where's Ben?!_

Ally grumbling, "I told you we shouldn't have told her," was the last thing Mal heard from her dorm.

 _In the library…_

Harley was pacing back and forth, not sure how to break the news to Claire and Mal. Then again, maybe Mal already knew, depending on what Evie and the others had told her.

Claire soon joined him, biting her nails and looking anxious.

"Hey," Harley said uncomfortably.

"Hey." Claire replied awkwardly as the took a seat in one of the chairs, "So, where's Mal?"

"I don't know." Harley said, picking up his phone, "Let me text her."

 _Hey, Mal,_ he wrote, _Claire and I are meeting in the library if you want to talk to us about what you found out._

 _Can't,_ Mal responded, _Need to talk to Ben. TTYL._

"I guess she's not coming," Harley said, setting his phone down, "She said she needed to talk to Ben."

"Ah. What she found out must've rattled her, then." Claire said sadly.

"Yeah. I can kind of see why." Harley said gloomily.

"What? What did Hayden tell you?" Claire asked.

Harley looked around the room to make sure no one was eavesdropping, and leaned and whispered, "The reason he's been so upset is because he's brokenhearted. He's still in love with Mal, and he wants her back, but she's with Ben. He says he's happy for them, but he's still really upset."

" _What?!_ After all this time?!" Claire asked, eyes going wide.

"Yeah, crazy, right?! Anyway, what did Fran tell you?" Harley asked.

"Fran's in love with Hayden, but she's noticed that he still loves Mal. She's upset because she wants Hayden to love her, but his sight is set on Mal." Claire mumbled.

"Wow. Poor Fran." Harley breathed sadly.

"Poor Hayden." Claire added under her breath.

"Wait, Fran's in love with Hayden?!" Harley asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Yeah?" Claire asked.

"That's it!" Harley shouted excitedly, rising to his feet.

"Shh!" the librarian hissed.

"Claire," Harley said, sitting back in his seat, "We have to _bring them together!"_

"Bring them together?" Claire asked, puzzled.

Harley nodded vigorously and said, "Think about it! Fran's upset because she wants Hayden to like her, and Hayden's depressed because he's stuck on Mal! If we bring them together, Fran won't be unhappy anymore, and Hayden will finally be able to move on and he'll be happy, too!"

"So we solve both their problems! Two birds with one stone!" Claire quietly exclaimed.

" _Exactly!"_ Harley whispered eagerly.

"But where do we start?" Claire asked.

"You start by letting us help you!" Evie said, sitting down next to them, with Audrey, Ally, Lonnie, Ruby, and Jane in tow.

Claire and Harley flinched, and then Harley huffed and said, "Jeez, you guys scared us! How much of our conversation did you hear?"

"Just the part where you realized Hayden and Fran need to be brought together. We're sorry for eavesdropping, we were just coming in to discuss ways to get them together when Evie overheard you talking about the same thing." Ally apologized.

"How long have you two known?" Audrey asked.

"We just found out after Harley talked to Hayden and I talked with Fran." Claire explained.

"Right, you're their roommates!" Lonnie whispered eagerly, leaning forward in her seat, "That means you must know them really well, right?! That'll help us even more!"

"She's right! We've been trying to get them together since we noticed the problem, and nothing's worked, but maybe that's because we don't know them as well as you two do!" Jane mumbled, beaming.

"Wait, I've got an idea!" Evie cried, standing up.

She ripped a sheet of poster paper from against the wall near the librarian's desk, grabbed some markers and walked back to the table.

Evie drew a T chart on the paper and put "Hayden" on one side, and "Fran" on the other.

"We'll each put down what we know Hayden and Fran like and are interested in, and we'll circle the things they have in common. That'll give us a clearer picture on how to get them interested in each other!" Evie said, passing markers out to everyone.

"That's a great idea!" Claire said.

"Yeah, I just wish Mal was here to give us more information about Hayden." Harley said.

All the girls except Claire winced, and Ally said, "Well, you see, we told Mal about what we knew because she asked, and she kind of...freaked out. She ran off, and we don't know where she went."

"She told me through text that she went to see Ben." Harley said, showing the text on his phone.

"Ah, that makes sense." Jane said sadly.

"Anyway, let's get to work." Evie said, beginning to write on Fran's side of the poster.

 _At the same time…_

Mal ran towards Ben's office, not sure whether she wanted to scream out of confusion, be angry at Hayden for not being able to let go of the past and leaving Fran brokenhearted, or sob for breaking Hayden's heart.

She did know, though, that she needed Ben's strong arms to hold her together, and his gentle words to calm the emotional storm churning inside of her.

Mal frantically knocked on Ben's door, and breathed a temporary sigh of relief when Ben answered, "Come in."

Mal pulled the door open and quickly closed it behind her.

Ben smiled at Mal, but then frowned when he saw the look on her face.

"Mal?" Ben asked, rising from his desk, "What happened?"

Mal tried to tell him, but her throat was so constricted from unescaped sobs that only choking noises came out.

"Mal?" Ben asked, walking towards her.

Mal blinked, and suddenly Hayden was walking towards her, teeth clenched and tears running down his face.

"Mal…" he moaned, his voice shaky from overwhelming sadness.

Mal cried, too, and said, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"What?" Hayden asked.

Mal blinked again and Ben was standing before her, looking concerned.

"Why are you sorry? Is this about what happened before cotillion again?" Ben asked.

Mal shook her head and grabbed onto Ben, sobbing into his shoulder.

Ben held her back and whispered, "Shh, it's okay. It's alright, Mal. Just take some deep breaths. You hear my heartbeat? Focus on that."

Mal nodded and tried to focus on the sound of Ben's heart pounding as he held her, and backed up so the were sitting on a small cushioned space in front of a window.

When Mal stopped sobbing, Ben gently pulled her face towards his and mumbled, "Tell me what happened. Please."

"I found out why Hayden and Fran have been so moody lately." Mal said shakily.

"Why are they upset?" Ben asked.

"Because…" Mal said, drawing a deep breath, "Because Hayden's still in love with me, but I'm with you, so we can't be together, and he's brokenhearted. And Fran wants Hayden, but Hayden can't move on and see her as a romantic partner, so she's depressed. And this is all my fault!"

"No, it's not." Ben said, holding her tightly, "Mal, you didn't know Hayden was still in love with you, and you didn't know Fran wanted Hayden. Besides, Hades forced Hayden to break up with you, you didn't break his heart. This is Hades's fault, not yours. Hopefully this will all be over soon."

Mal nodded and hugged Ben tighter, feeling her pulse speed up.

"Would you leave me for him?" Ben asked, sounding scared.

"What?! NO! Of course not! Hayden's a close friend, but I wouldn't leave you for him. I love you far too much for that!" Mal cried.

To prove it, Mal leaned up and kissed Ben on the lips, melting into him. Ben kissed with equal force, and after a while, she felt him trembling and breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" Mal asked through her giggles as she pulled away.

"Yeah, I just got a bit turned on." Ben said sheepishly.

Mal laughed, and Ben smiled bashfully before giving her a peck on the nose.

"Come with me to dinner tonight," Ben said suddenly, taking Mal's hand, "I want to spend some quality time with you, and I think it'd help take your mind off that issue with your friends."

"What about our date we have planned in a few days?" Mal asked.

Ben chuckled warmly and said, "You think couples can only see each other once a week? We can still do our Saturday date. I just want to spend more time with you. No one's ever made me feel the way I feel about you, not even Audrey. It's not everyday you form a bond like this with someone, Mal. You're special to me, and I want to be with you. I love you."

Mal kissed Ben's cheek and said, "I love you too. And yes, I'll go to dinner with you tonight."

"You're the best." Ben mumbled.

"No," Mal said, pulling back into a hug, "You are."

 _In the library…_

"Wow." Evie said breathlessly, looking over the chart they'd just completed, "I had no idea Fran and Hayden had so much in common."

Everyone else in the group nodded, staring at their T chart. There were so many circles.

"Well, now I'm more convinced than ever that they need to be brought together! They'd be such a great pair! Ooh! We should set them up on a blind date!" Ruby suggested.

"I'm not sure how they'd react to that." Lonnie said gently.

"No, I think Ruby's right." Harley countered, trying to keep his tone kind, "And I'm not just saying that because she's my girlfriend. Getting them together on a blind date could be how they get to know each other better, and become more attracted to each other."

"Maybe we could make it a double date so it'll be less awkward!" Ruby said excitedly, her hair slightly glowing.

"Yeah! God, I love the way you think!" Harley said, turning to his girlfriend.

Ruby hid her face in her hands and her hair grew brighter as she said, "Thanks, Harley."

"Maybe we could turn it into a triple date, and Mason and I could come along, too." Claire suggested.

"That's not a bad idea." Jane said.

Most of the girl's phone's suddenly chirped, and they all looked at their phones and grinned.

"Awesome! Melody just posted a new video!" Audrey cried.

"Onto where? ViewTube?" Claire asked.

Ally shook her head and said, "Melody has her own vlog that she runs in her spare time. It's like a blog but with videos instead of words. She calls it One Story because she once heard a quote, 'We're all in this story together.' Melody likes to talk about interesting things that are happening in school and during the summer, her personal life. It's really interesting. You should subscribe to her."

"Alright, I will!" Claire said, grabbing her phone.

"Me too!" Harley said, also getting his phone.

"And me!" Evie added.

"The library will be closing in 5 minutes!" the librarian announced.

"Oh, shoot! We gotta go!" Lonnie cried, grabbing her bag.

"I'll take the poster!" Audrey said, rolling it and picking it up.

"Let's meet up tomorrow and discuss the blind date idea." Harley suggested, pocketing his phone.

"Aren't your siblings arriving tomorrow? Won't you need to help them settle in?" Ally asked.

"Yeah, you're right. Friday, then. Same place and time." Claire said.

Everyone nodded and walked out of the library as the librarian announced "The library will be closing in 2 minutes!"


	3. Family Reunion

Chapter 3 -Family Reunion

Hazel sat in the back of the limo, fuming silently as the car drove them to their new school. She debated hexing the driver into turning around and sending them back home, but she realized that that might be extremely dangerous while driving. And she wanted to live.

"Hazel, you should try these!" Hadie said through a full mouth, offering her a bag of round treats.

She admitted they looked tasty, but she refused to eat any Auradon food until she absolutely had to.

"No." Hazel said curtly.

"Are you sure? They're called cake balls, and they're really good! They're really sweet, and moist, and-!" Hadie said through a cake ball in his mouth.

"NO!" Hazel snapped.

"Okay, yeesh! Chill!" Hadie said, recoiling from his sister.

"That's easy for you to say. You've been wanting to go to Auradon your whole life. I'm being sent away against my will and stuck with all of you." Hazel grumbled.

Hazel looked around and glared at everyone in the van-her useless brother Hadie, even more useless Clay Clayton, snotty Harper Hearts, who was checking her makeup in her portable mirror, and Claudine Frollo, who was just plain horrible, who was glaring out the window.

Claudine glared back at her and snapped, "Well, aren't _you_ special. News flash, Hazel- Harper and I don't want to go either, but we're just as stuck as you!"

"Maybe you guys should lighten up about this." Clay said, looking in almost their direction, "Maybe this place will be better than the Isle ever was. It probably is if it got our siblings to convert."

"Oh, _shut up_ Clay!" Harper said, rolling her dark eyes.

"Oh, I'm so very sorry, _Your Highness._ Oh wait, that's right, you don't have any power over anyone!" Clay snapped.

"How dare you address me that way! I am the Princess of Wonderland!" Harper shrieked, trying to rise to her feet.

" _Sit down!"_ the driver commanded.

"No, you're not. You haven't been since The White Queen took the throne after your mom got arrested and sent to the Isle for nearly decapitating Alice." Hazel spat as Harper sat down.

Harper's face turned tomato red, and she cried, "How _dare you_ mention her name in front of me!"

"NO FIGHTING!" the driver cried, fed up, "If all you're going to do is bicker, I suggest you all sit quietly until we arrive at Auradon Prep."

" _Or what?"_ Claudine snarled.

"Or I'll tell the headmistress about your misbehavior, and you all will be in big trouble once we get to school!" the driver cried.

Hazel, Claudine, and Harper glared at him, but everyone was silent for the rest of the ride.

"Hey, guys!" Lucille said excitedly, approaching the VKs during breakfast, "When you're done, I've got something to show you!"

"We are done, actually. We were just talking." Harley said.

"Oh! Wonderful! Follow me, then!" Lucille said.

"Wait, sorry, who are you?" Hayden asked.

"Oh, sorry! I forgot only Mal knows me! I'm Lucille, daughter of Lumiere!" Lucille said kindly.

"Oh, nice to meet you." Evie said, rising from her chair.

"Lovely to meet you all, too. Now, come on! I can't wait to show you all!" Lucille said, walking away, while the villain kids followed her.

"So," Lucille said when the arrived at her dorm, "Since I'm going to be rooming with Hazel, I figured the best way to make a good impression on her was to decorate her side of the dorm for her! What do you think?!"

Lucille opened the door, and the VKs jaws dropped.

The walls were a nice royal purple, and the bedspread was purple and black, like a VK would want, but the rest of the room looked ridiculous. Fairy lights covered with black skulls covered the borders of the walls on her side of the room, a life size replica skeleton was chained the right wall, black columns with fake flames were posted at the four corners of her bed, a dark vanity with a malicious looking carving on the top of the mirror was next to her bed, and her desk and chair were covered in spikes, with a rhinestone covered skull and large Cerberus figure on the surface. Black velvet curtains covered the window and created a canopy on her bed.

"That's not all!" Lucille said happily, walking over to the closet, "Look what happens when she opens this!"

Lucille pulled one of the doors open, and a hollow "Mwah-ha-ha!" echoed through the room, making the VKs flinch.

"So, what do you think?" Lucille asked.

"Uh…" everyone said, trying their hardest to think of something positive to say.

"I like the wall color." Mal said, giving a fake smile.

"The bedspread is nice." Harley complimented, trying to sound polite.

"You don't like it, do you?" Lucille asked solemnly.

The VKs fidgeted and looked askance, debating on what to do.

"It's okay. You can be honest. Tell me what I did wrong." Lucille said kindly.

"Okay, well...we appreciate the effort, but it's _way_ too much. If you wanted ideas on how to decorate Hazel's dorm, you should've asked me. I am her brother." Hayden said flatly.

"Okay. So, what should I fix?" Lucille asked.

"I think getting rid of the audio clip that plays everytime Hazel opens her closet would be a good starting point. I doubt she'd like it. I don't think any VK would." Freddie said bluntly.

"But you all grew up listening to your parents' maniacal laughter. I thought that would be nice Isle touch." Lucille said, frowning.

"We don't like listening to our parents do that. It scares us." Evie said, and everyone else shuddered in agreement.

"Plus, think of you and your roommates. Would you all like to deal with that every morning and night?" Fran asked.

"Hmm, you're right. Sorry. I guess I didn't consider that." Lucille said, looking embarrassed.

"It's fine. Here, I've got an idea. We'll help you redecorate so that it better suits Hazel." Mal said, rolling up the sleeves on her jacket.

"Really? Thank you so much!" Lucille cried.

For the next twenty minutes, Lucille and the VKs worked to get rid of the ridiculous decor and replace it with more tasteful items. Lucille had trouble understanding why they were removing certain items, but quickly agreed when the Isle kids explained why.

When they were done, Hazel's desk and chair were spike free, and covered with school supplies that the others had donated, along with the jeweled skull and Cerberus figure. Near her desk was a purple and black striped bulletin board with a small bin attached to it filled with thumbtacks. Her vanity was a dark oak with a royal purple spread on it, a stand for charging her phone, empty standing picture frames, and a dark cushion on the chair. The drawers were full of new and undamaged toiletries (except for shampoo, conditioner, and soap), and makeup, which Evie had generously taken upon herself to get for Hazel. The black skull fairy lights and skeleton had been taken down and replaced by posters of Hazel's favorite rock and alternative bands, and a mid-flight skeletal dragon with red eyes poster (Hazel's unique icon).

"Why is her special symbol a skeleton dragon?" Lucille asked when Hayden finished putting it up.

"She's always been fascinated by dragons. We don't know why." Hayden said, shrugging.

"Interesting. This is going to be a...unique experience." Lucille said, her voice shaky.

Mal put her hand on Lucille's shoulder and said, "I know you're scared, but there's nothing to be nervous about. I'm sure you and Hazel will be great roommates, and hopefully great friends."

"I hope you're right. I've never done anything like this before." Lucille said, fidgeting with a strand of her hair.

There was a sudden knock on the door, and Melody asked, "Lucille? Have you seen the VKs?"

"We're in here, why?" Harley asked.

"Oh, good! Your siblings will be arriving soon. Ben wants us to meet on the front lawn to welcome them." Melody reported.

"Alright, thanks, Melody." Claire said.

"No problem." Melody said as she walked away.

"I'm going to stay here and finish straightening up. I hope I'm ready for this." Lucille said, trembling.

Evie hugged Lucille, and soon all of the other VKs joined in, making Lucille stop shaking and grin.

"You'll be fine, Lucille." Evie said gently once everyone let go, "We'll help you out if you need it, okay?"

Lucille nodded and said, "See you later."

"You too." The VKs said as they left.

"Hey, there you all!" Ben cried when he saw them, beaming, "I was wondering where you were."

"Lucille needed help decorating Hazel's part of the dorm." Mal explained, standing next to Ben.

"Aren't you going to take my hand?" Ben whispered.

Mal winced and looked pointedly at Fran and Hayden, who were standing in front of them.

"Right." Ben huffed, "I hope they get together soon."

"Me too." Mal said sadly.

"Do you think they're okay?" Fran asked nervously.

"What do you mean?" Hayden asked.

"Do you think our parents hurt them badly after what we did?" Fran asked.

"I'm sure if they did, they'll have recovered by now. That was 3 months ago, remember. I'm sure they're fine." Hayden said, touching Fran's back to try and soothe her, making Fran tense and try to hide a blush.

"I just wish we could've been there to defend them." Harley said sadly.

"We've been protecting them for years. I'm sure they could handle being left alone for a few months." Claire said confidently.

The limo pulled into the driveway, and Hayden, Claire, Fran, and Harley's siblings stepped out, the girls looked pissed, the guys looking ecstatic.

Hadie had blue hair that was darker and longer than his brother's, blue eyes that were filled with energy, and light skin. He had on a blue beanie, a dark blue shirt with a darker skull design under a gray denim jacket, gray pants, a blue belt, and dark blue leather shoes.

Hazel had both of her brothers' fair skin, but her hair was indigo and her eyes aquamarine. She had on a grey zip up jacket over a black and purple shirt, ripped jeans, and purple boots. A jeweled skull ring was on her ring finger on her right hand, a black bracelet with spikes was on her left wrist, and she had a silver dragon necklace around her neck.

Harper looked like an Auradon Prep princess gone bad in a red dress with a ripped up hem at her skirt, a short sleeve black leather jacket, lace fingerless gloves with red nails, black and white striped tights that looked really worn, and black knee-high boots. A red rose necklace hung around her neck, her lips were berry red, and her eyelids were ink black with gold eyeliner. A gold tiara with red jewels rested on top of her head.

Claudine was the spitting image of what Fran had used to be, except shorter and in different clothes. She was wearing a dressy purple tank top under a ruffled black long cardigan, black dress pants, velvet purple flats, a black metal cross necklace, and a mini replica of her father's famous judicial hat.

Clay had on yellow long sleeve shirt over a red crewneck t-shirt, brown khaki pants, and leather shoes. He carried a hunting bag like Claire had, but he didn't seem threatening.

Hadie's smile widened when he saw Hayden and he ran to him, pulling him into a huge hug.

Hayden laughed gently and said, "Hey, Hadie. Glad you could make it."

Hadie nodded, eyes moist, and mumbled, "Thanks for getting us out of there. Even if Hazel isn't exactly grateful."

Hayden let go of Hadie, and put his hands on his brother's shoulders.

"I'd do anything for you two. You know that, right?" Hayden asked seriously.

"Yeah." Hadie said, smiling sadly.

"Hey, Hazel," Hayden said kindly, turning to his sister.

"Hey," Hazel said, smiling in spite of herself.

"Can I get a hug?" Hayden asked, opening his arms.

"No." Hazel said coldly.

"Aww c'mon. You love hugs!" Hayden cried.

"No, I don't. I'm evil. Villains don't hug each other." Hazel snapped.

"Surely you can spare one for your big brother that you haven't seen in months?" Hayden asked, his arms still spread.

Hazel huffed and said, "Fine. But only because you're my brother."

Hazel walked into his embrace and let her brother hold her, and slowly, she put her arms around him too.

"Claire?" Clay asked, feeling around for her, "CLAIRE?!"

He then felt someone's shoulder, and pulled her into a hug.

"Claire. I've missed you so much!" Clay mumbled, hugging her tightly.

He stroked her hair and commented, "Wow, you curled your hair? I didn't think you were the kind of girl who'd do that."

"Uh," the girl in his arms said awkwardly, her body tense, "I'm Fran, Clay."

"OH, that explains it! Sorry, Fran!" Clay cried, letting go of her.

"It's fine." Fran said kindly, momentarily startling Clay.

"Wow, that's the first time I've ever heard you be nice, Fran." Clay said, amazed.

"Yeah, well, I've changed." Fran said, with what Clay guessed was a smile.

He then felt a tap on his shoulder and turned in its direction.

"Claire?" Clay asked.

"It's me!" his sister responded joyfully.

"CLAIRE!" Clay cried, pulling her into a massive hug.

"Whoa, you cut your hair!" he cried, feeling Claire's hair.

"Yeah, I did. Do you like it?" Claire asked.

"Yeah. Why did you cut it, though?" Clay asked.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later." Claire said kindly.

Clay felt a sharp pang of sadness in his heart, and his blind eyes started watering.

"What's wrong?!" Claire cried, concerned.

"I just...I've heard Auradon's so beautiful, but I can't see it. And I can't see you or your new haircut." Clay said sadly.

"Hey," Claire said, her voice shaky, making Clay guess that she was close to crying, "Maybe we'll find someone here who can restore your sight."

"Maybe." Clay said doubtfully, drying his eyes.

Claire held onto him tighter, and Clay wrapped his arms around her even tighter, letting the tears flow from his eyes onto her shoulder.

"Claudine!" Fran cried, beaming at her little sister as she walked up to her.

"What...on Earth...are you wearing?" Claudine asked, examining her big sister's outfit.

"It's my new style! I call it Auradon-Isle Chic! You should try it!" Fran said, looking proud.

"Not a chance. What would Father think of you?!" Claudine snapped.

"Well, maybe I don't care what he thinks anymore. Maybe I'd rather figure out what I like and what I want to be versus following the rules of someone who doesn't love me." Fran said defensively.

"What happened to you over these past 3 months?! You're like a complete stranger to me!" Claudine said, disgusted.

"I'm still your sister, Claudine. I've just changed. I've chosen to display my good side that I kept hidden on the Isle, instead of acting on my worst traits because that's what people wanted me to do. And that's what I want for you, too." Fran said, disappointed.

"HA! That'll never happen. This is who I am, and this is who I'll always be." Claudine said haughtily.

"I used to think that way, too. But, Claudine, there's so much more here than there ever was on the Isle. I've gotten more out of my life here in Auradon than I ever would've on the Isle. And soon, you'll have it all, too!" Fran protested.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I had everything I wanted back home. And now, because I'm here, I had to leave it all behind. What could this place possibly give me that would make me want to be _good_ and stay here forever?" Claudine spat.

Fran sighed, and said, "I don't know, Claudine. You'll have to discover that for yourself. But I do know that eventually, someone or something here is going to inspire you to want to stay and bring out the best in you versus the worst. Trust me on this, okay?"

Claudine rolled her eyes and said, "Whatever."

"Are you at least happy to see me?" Fran asked sadly.

Claudine gave a small smile and said, "Well, happy would imply goodness, so that's not the word I would use. But yeah, it's nice to see you again."

"Nice seeing you too, sis." Fran said, beaming.

"Harper! God, I missed you!" Harley cried when his sister came up to him.

Harper examined him from head to toe and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Seriously?! You look... _good."_ Harper spat.

"That's kinda the point. I'm good now." Harley explained patiently.

Harper snorted and said, "Well, that explains why Mom came home in such a bad mood after the plan failed."

"Did she hurt you?" Harley asked, his smile fading.

Harper bit her lip and stared at the ground.

"I'm sorry, Harper." Harley said sadly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No, you're not!" Harper cried, yanking Harley's hand off, "You all were so selfish that you decided to abandon me and all the others to fend for ourselves on the Isle against the other kids and our parents while you all got pampered here and forgot about us!"

"That's not true, Harper. We never forgot about you! We begged Ben for months to get you out of there, but he forgot about it until after Mal's cotillion!" Harley protested.

"I couldn't care less about being here! _You_ should've come back home to protect us! Do you have any idea how much worse home and school got once you all left?!" Harper screeched.

"Hate to admit it, but she's got a point." Claudine called.

"Agreed." Hazel said coldly.

Hadie and Clay winced like they wanted to agree with the girls, but they didn't want to upset their siblings.

"Guys, we're sorry. We didn't mean for any of this to happen." Hayden said sadly.

"Why didn't you come home, then?" Hazel barked.

"Because we were waiting for you to be transferred to Auradon so you could experience the happiness we have!" Claire protested.

"Well maybe some of us didn't want to come here at all!" Claudine snapped.

"We didn't either when we first arrived. Neither did Mal, Jay, Carlos, and Evie! But this placed grew on us the longer we stayed here. If you give it a chance, it'll grow on you, too." Fran said, looking somewhat sad.

" _Ha!_ I'd sooner believe that Snow White was poisoned by an orange from Captain Hook! Maybe some of us can't be 'saved'." Harper cried.

"Let's all calm down. I know you guys are stressed about transitioning to a place that's different from what you're used to, and you don't want to be here, but that's no reason to lash out at your siblings. They're just trying to look out for you. They brought you here because they wanted you to be happy." Ben reasoned.

"We were happy on the Isle. Slug." Hazel barked.

"What?" Ben asked.

There was a sudden flash of light, and large brown slug was standing where Ben had been.

"Eww." the AK girls in the welcoming committee cried, backing away.

" _Hazel!"_ the VKs cried.

"What? It's not like I killed him. Personally, I think he's better this way. Less annoying." Hazel said, smirking.

"Hazel, change him back!" Mal cried.

"Hmm...nah." Hazel said mockingly.

"Hazel, change Ben back." Hayden said slowly, his irises glowing blue.

Hazel raised an eyebrow, her irises turning purple.

"You _do realize_ that I'm more powerful than you, right, Hayden?" Hazel asked.

"Uh, news flash. You're not the only one with magic." Mal said, her eyes becoming green.

Hadie joined Hayden and Mal, his eyes fiery orange.

"I know for a fact that you can't on the 3 of us at once, Hazel. Change Ben back, now." Hadie commanded.

"Fine. Squirrel." Hazel said, looking at the slug.

In another flash of light, a red squirrel with a bushy tail was crouched where the slug was. It began squawking angrily, making Hazel laugh.

" _HAZEL!"_ the VKs cried.

"What? I did what you asked. You told me change him, but you didn't say into what." Hazel said, grinning evilly.

"Hazel, change Ben back into a human, _now!"_ Hayden cried, his eyes glowing brighter, as well as Mal's and Hadie's.

Hazel growled and said, _"Fine._ Human."

In another flash of light, Ben was standing where the squirrel was, looking livid.

" _Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again."_ Ben snarled.

"Or what? You'll send me back to the place I want to be most all?" Hazel taunted.

"Or I'll give you a two week long in-school suspension." Fairy Godmother called, marching up to the group.

"Hi! You must be Headmistress Fairy Godmother!" Hadie said when he saw her.

"That's me! And I take it you're Hadie, Hades's younger son?" Fairy Godmother asked.

"Yeah." Hadie said, smiling.

"Well, it's nice to meet you. I can certainly see the family resemblance between you and your brother!" Fairy Godmother said kindly.

She turned back to Hazel and said, "And you must be Hazel, am I right?"

"That would be me, Madam Bippity-Boppity." Hazel said, examining her nails.

"Look at me when I'm speaking to you, young lady!" Fairy Godmother snapped.

Hazel looked up, one eyebrow raised, and Fairy Godmother continued, "I _will not_ tolerate bullying of any of my students, _especially_ if the bullying involves magic! If you use your magic to transform me or anyone else again, you'll get an in-school suspension for a month! Do you understand me?!"

Hazel huffed and rolled her eyes but spat, " _Fine."_

"And that goes for you two as well," Fairy Godmother said, turning to Harper and Claudine, "If either of you use hurtful words or assault another student, teacher, or administrator, you'll be assigned in-school suspensions! Am I understood?!"

"Yes, ma'am." Harper and Claudine said unhappily.

"Good. Now, if you all will follow us into the school, we'll be happy to show you to your dorms." Fairy Godmother said, turning around and walking away.

The other students followed her, Hazel, Harper, and Claudine grumbling their dissents, and Claire clasped Clay right hand.

"Let me help you out, Clay." Claire said kindly.

"Okay. Thanks." Clay said miserably.

Claire gave him a hug, and they continued walking, holding hands.

"Okay, now be careful. There are stairs here." Claire warned.

"Is there a guardrail?" Clay asked.

"Yeah, just to your left." Claire said.

Clay reached his arm out and felt around until his hand touched the cold metal railing.

"You got it?" Claire asked.

Clay nodded, and Claire instructed, "Alright. Now, step."

Clay placed his foot on the first step.

"Step." Claire repeated.

Clay placed his other foot on the second step.

"Step." Claire said again.

Clay shakily placed his hind foot on the third step.

"I hate stairs." Clay grumbled.

"I know, but this is the only way into the school." Claire said patiently.

"There isn't a handicapped ramp? I thought all buildings in Auradon had them." Clay said, confused.

"There is one, but it's on a different side of the building, and the group's going this way." Claire explained.

Clay huffed and said, "Fine. Keeping leading."

"Step." Claire instructed.

Clay wobbled trying to place his foot on the step, and almost fell before Claire caught him.

"Whoa! You okay?!" Claire cried.

"I'm fine. Let's just get this over with!" Clay snapped, straightening up, eyes moist.

"Clay, relax!" Claire scolded.

"Wouldn't you be upset if this was you?!" Clay cried.

"Yes, but I'd also be grateful and understand that you were trying to help me!" Claire snapped.

Clay snarled and clenched his fists, but then relaxed and whimpered, "I'm sorry, I just…"

"I know." Claire said sadly, "But let's discuss it later, alright? Everyone's waiting for us."

Clay nodded, and slowly, he and Claire climbed the stairs, while Ben, Mal, Fairy Godmother, Evie, Jay, Carlos, Hayden, Fran, Hadie, and Harley watched with pity, and Claudine, Hazel, and Harper looked on in disgust.

"About time. It's very rude to be kept waiting, you know." Harper spat when Claire and Clay finally reached the top.

"Harper, how dare you!" Harley cried, looking horrified, "He can't help that he's blind!"

"I'm just expressing what everyone else is feeling." Harper said coldly.

"Does anyone else think what Harper said?" Harley asked.

"I do." Hazel said, raising her hand.

"As do I." Claudine said coldly.

"That's because you two are evil! All of us who are good don't think that way! And, hopefully, soon you won't either and you'll be ashamed of what you said!" Hayden snapped.

Claudine looked skeptical, Hazel snorted, and Harper raised her chin and said, "Hmph!"

"Let's just continue the tour, shall we?" Ben said pleasantly.

Ben opened the doors and the new VKs were ushered inside while the AKs stood around applauding. A large banner saying _Welcome to Auradon Prep_ was hanging above their heads.

"Harper?" A voice asked.

Harper turned to the sound, coming face to face with a girl with long blonde hair with a pink flower barrette, a lavender shirt under a loose, flowy lilac cardigan, royal purple leggings, and white high tops with doodles on them.

"Hi, I'm Ruby, your brother's girlfriend. It's great to finally meet you!" she said kindly.

Harper gave a bark of laughter and said, "Like I'm going to believe you're my brother's girlfriend. Our mom would _kill him_ if he dared to date someone who wasn't an Isle princess, which would either be Evie or Hanna. He'd _really_ be dead if he was caught with someone like you. Look at you, ditzy, vague, plastic, _terrible_ fashion sense! You should probably drop the act now, honey. I can see right through you."

" _Harper!"_ Harley cried, rushing to Ruby's side, who's hair was steel gray and visibly shaken.

"She's not lying, she _is_ my girlfriend. Don't be so rude!" Harley barked.

"This brainless, poorly dressed blonde is your girlfriend? Wow. I had no idea your standards were so low, brother dear." Harper taunted, leering at Ruby.

"Why are you being so rude?!" Harley asked, his face turning pink.

"Well, look at her, Harley. She looks she's a fragile as a flower! She probably couldn't survive a day in our world. And you're impressed by her?! Have you suddenly gone as blind as Clay?!" Harper snapped.

"Well, maybe there's more to people than what they appear to be on the surface! That's what happened with Belle! She saw through the Beast's form and his ugly temper and learned to love him." Harley cried.

Harper opened her mouth to counter, but quickly shut it, and said, "Well, I'm far from impressed, and Mom would be too, if she were here. So, don't expect me to be hanging out with her anytime soon."

" _Harper!"_ Harley cried, grabbing her wrist as she walked away.

Harper's face turned tomato red, and she stomped on Harley's toes and then slapped him before storming off, making Harley cry out inpain and the nearby AKs cringe.

"Are you okay, Harley?" Ruby asked, looking worried.

"I'm fine. I've been through worse." Harley said, massaging his cheek.

"I'm so sorry about Harper. I had no idea she'd react that way. I'm sure she'll come around eventually." Harley said sadly.

Ruby placed her hand on Harley's shoulder and said, "None of this is your fault. I'm ready to forgive your sister as soon as she apologizes."

Harley smiled and said, "Thanks, sunshine."

Ruby giggled and said, "Of course, my Prince of Hearts."

"So, there's more of you." A boy with light blond hair said coldly.

Hazel and her siblings turned as the blond boy and another guy with red hair and girl with darker blonde hair leered at Hayden.

"Yeah. Is that a problem?" Hayden asked with equal iciness.

"More of you who knew about the curse and neglected to tell us." the blonde girl said.

"That _wasn't_ our faults! How many times do I have to explain this to you?! You're blaming us for something we didn't do!" Hayden snapped.

"Uh, Hayden." Claire said, tapping him on the shoulder, "We're continuing the tour now."

"Fine. C'mon guys." Hayden huffed, motioning for his siblings to follow him as he walked away.

"Who were those three?" Hadie asked, tensing as they glared at their backs.

"Eli, Andrew, and Kriss. Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff's kids. They don't like me because apparently one of dad's servants cursed Andrew before his birth and I didn't tell them-which isn't my fault, because I literally _just remembered that_ -and now it seems that they've decided they don't like you for the same reason." Hayden grumbled.

"Oh, good. Something to remind us of home. Let's show them how evil we can really be!" Hazel said, smirking maliciously.

"Absolutely not! We'd get expelled, and retaliation is not my thing anymore. Hopefully they'll come to their senses soon and realize they're being dumb." Hayden snapped.

Hazel stared at him incredulously for a second before spitting, " _Seriously?!_ You of all people should _love_ asserting their dominance and making kids like that fear you!"

"I'm not the same guy I was when you last saw me, Hazel! I've changed for the better! Will you please stop being so rude?!" Hayden barked.

"What's going on?" Ben asked as they caught up with the group.

"They had a run-in with the Arendelle kids." Claire said uncomfortably.

"Ah. I really need to set up counseling sessions between you all. This family feud is ridiculous and against the customs of Auradon!" Fairy Godmother said, determined.

"Hypocrite." Claudine grumbled.

" _What_ did you just call me, young lady?!" Fairy Godmother asked, sharply turning to Claudine.

"You're a hypocrite. You claim family feuds are bad and against your ways, and yet you, Queen Belle, and King Beast had no problem sending our parents to a prison island to spend the rest of their lives on _because you hate them."_ Claudine growled.

Fairy Godmother looked gobsmacked, and opened her mouth as if to say something, but quickly shut it.

"Let's start the tour, shall we? You guys already saw the lobby, and this is what we call the crossroads, because in each direction there's a major hallway. We're going to start by going to the left." Ben said quickly.

Everyone followed as Ben turned down the left hallway, their footsteps echoing on the marble tiles and high ceilings.

Claudine looked at Fran to see her sister scowling at her, her signature villainous sneer returning to her face.

"My, my, sis." Claudine said, smirking at Fran, "For someone who claims to be good, that looks like a rather evil face."

"Because you're driving me crazy!" Fran growled.

Claudine shrugged and said, "All I did was speak the truth. Good people value honesty, right?"

"Would it kill you to be polite for a change?!" Fran snapped.

"Probably." Claudine said casually, getting bored with the conversation.

She turned her attention back to Ben rambling about the school and tried not die of boredom, though, she had to admit, this place was a lot nicer looking than school on the Isle.

"So, now that we've concluded our tour, I think it's time we showed you your dorms." Fairy Godmother said, stopping in front of a large window looking out into the garden. Two large wood doors stood to the left and right sides of her.

"About time. I'm worn out." Harper whined.

Ignoring her, Fairy Godmother continued, "The door on the left leads the boys dorms, and the one on the right leads to the girls dorms. Claudine and Harper, you two will be rooming together, Hadie will have his own dorm for now, Hazel will be rooming with Lucille, one of our current students, and Clay, due to your, ah, condition, I've assigned you a special dorm near mine in case you need anything."

Clay nodded miserably, and Hadie asked, "Why don't I have a roommate? Can't I just room with Hayden?"

"Hayden has already been assigned a dorm with Harley. I'm afraid I couldn't find a roommate for you, Hadie. Hopefully soon you'll have one." Fairy Godmother explained patiently.

She turned to Ben and the other good students and asked, "Would you mind showing them their dorms?"

"Sure. C'mon, Hadie." Hayden said, beckoning his brother to follow him.

"Harper, Claudine, I'll show you guys to your dorms since I'll be rooming near you." Melody said warmly.

"And Hazel, I'll take you to your dorm." Mal said kindly but firmly.

Hazel growled and said, "Fine," stomping after Mal.

"I see you haven't lost your attitude since I last saw you." Mal said casually as she lead her down the hall.

"What, did you expect me to magically transform into a goody two-shoes who acts all prim and elegant and poised and plastic like you?" Hazel asked.

"What do you mean?" Mal asked.

"What I mean, _Your Highness,_ is that your little 'princess' act makes you look like a living Barbie doll-pretty and plastic and shallow. At least you had the sense to get rid of that awful blonde hair and not wear a glitzy, sparkly dress to your cotillion. And you showed that there's still evil inside you." Hazel jeered.

"I'm not evil!" Mal cried, her temper rising.

"Oh, really? What made change into a dragon and fight Uma like that, huh? You probably would've burnt her alive if Ben hadn't jumped in. Just like your mother." Hazel taunted.

"Uma was endangering my boyfriend and my friends! I didn't change into a dragon because I'm evil, I did it to protect everyone!" Mal snarled.

Hazel rolled her eyes and said, "Sure. Whatever."

Mal took some deep breaths, trying to control her anger, and said, "Anyway, here's your dorm. Lucille will be waiting inside."

"'Kay." Hazel grunted, scowling at the door.

"See you at dinner!" Mal called as she walked away.

Hazel huffed, thought to herself _Let's get this over with,_ and turned the doorknob.

"Bonjour!" A female voice with a French accent called as Hazel opened the door.

A girl with long golden hair, tan skin, and brown eyes beamed at her. Hazel wrinkled her nose in disgust as she examined this girl's daffodil ruffled v-neck shirt, canary yellow skirt, yellow leggings, lemon shoes, and gold earrings shaped like candles.

"Hi." Hazel said curtly.

"I take you must be Hazel, Hades's daughter?" the yellow girl asked.

"That would be me." Hazel said, trying to imply that she wanted to be left alone.

"Awesome! It's great to finally meet you! I'm Lucille, daughter of Lumiere! I'm going to be your roommate." Lucille chirped.

 _This ditzy yellow girl who looks like she's been pampered since birth is going to be my roommate? Wonderful. Then again, I guess I should have expected this given how she's an Auradon girl._ Hazel thought.

Lucille's smile faltered for a second, sensing Hazel's scorn for her, but tried again and said, "So, this side of dorm's mine, and yours is the half with purple walls over there."

Lucille pointed to the half of the room behind her, and Hazel walked over almost in a trance, suddenly fascinated. She had a bed. A real bed with a splinter and crack-free frame, a mattress that didn't smell like mold, a bedsheet that actually looked fresh, intact, and stain-free, and real pillows and blankets.

The wall to the right of her bed had been decorated with posters of her favorite bands and a spray painted version of her special icon-a mid-flight skeleton dragon with red eyes.

The mirror on her vanity wasn't broken, and the wood felt smooth to the touch. The drawers were filled with makeup that wasn't second-hand or faulty, and new hairstyling products.

Her desk was also smooth, and had a beautiful rhinestone-encrusted skull and Cerberus figurine on it. The top of it was covered in an abundance of school supplies that looked like they'd just come out of a store.

"Do you like it, Hallie?" Lucille asked, startling Hazel back to reality.

" _Hallie?"_ Hazel asked.

Lucille winced and said, "Sorry. I'm bad with names. What do you think, Hazel?"

Hazel shrugged and said, "It's alright, I guess."

"Hmm. I'll take that as you really like it, you just refuse to admit it." Lucille said.

Hazel blinked and turned her head away.

 _Okay, maybe this girl isn't as dumb as I thought._ Hazel thought.

"Your brother Hayden, your friends-or rather, his friends-and I decorated it." Lucille asked.

"Why?" Hazel asked.

"Because we wanted you to feel comfortable and welcome on your first day. We want to give you a better life." Lucille said kindly.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I had everything I wanted back on the Isle." Hazel spat.

"Really? Was your room just a nice? Because Hayden said yours and your siblings rooms were extremely rundown and uncomfortable." Lucille asked.

"Well, yeah, but...it was home." Hazel said sadly.

"Maybe this place can your new home?" Lucille asked, placing her hand on Hazel's shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Hazel cried, yanking Lucille's hand off and making her irises glow purple.

Lucille quickly backed away and said, "Will you please stop being so rude? I'm trying to be your friend."

"I don't want, nor do I need friends. Villains don't make friendships." Hazel snapped, turning her irises back to normal.

"What about Harper, Claudine, and Clay?" Lucille asked.

"They're not my friends. They're people I got stuck being sent here with. Nuisances, like you." Hazel growled.

Lucille frowned and said, "FYI, Little Miss 'Evil', I didn't _have_ to treat you kindly or decorate your dorm for you. I'm trying to give you a chance."

"A chance to do what? Become one of those pretty, pink, plastic, nit-witted, goody two shoes princesses that can't survive a day on the Isle? Maybe not all villain kids can be 'saved'." Hazel said coldly.

Lucille's face turned red, her fists clenched, and her frown turned into an outraged sneer.

"This is _exactly_ why I didn't want to room with you! I _knew_ you'd be like this! Ungrateful, stubborn, argumentative, cold, callous-!" Lucille shouted.

"At least I have a brain and don't walk around looking like a fashion disaster! Do you have any clothes that aren't yellow?!" Hazel yelled.

"That's it! If you're going to be like this, I'm leaving!" Lucille cried, turning around and stomping towards the door.

"Good riddance." Hazel called after her.

"See you later, Hallie." Lucille cried, throwing the door open.

"It's _Hazel!"_ Hazel yelled as Lucille slammed the door in her face.

Hazel huffed and rolled her eyes and she began unpacking her suitcase.

 _This,_ she thought, _is going to be rough._


	4. As Good As Gold

Chapter 4- As Good As Gold

That night…

 _Carlos woke up in front of his old school on the Isle, students around him making sure to be as late as possible to their first classes, like all talented evil VKs did. The air was thick from the rancid smells coming from the local shops and the sewers, and the sky was overcast with constant dark, foreboding clouds._

 _Carlos immediately felt his breath quicken and heart speed up as the building loomed before him, made of dark, cracked stone blocks, broken windows, slime covered stairs, and graffitied pillars._

Why am I back here? I fell asleep in my bed in Auradon, Carlos thought, panicking.

" _Well, well. What do we have here?" a familiar voice asked to his left._

 _Mal stepped in front of him, smirking, with Jay coming up to his right._

 _Carlos was relieved for a second, but when he looked closer, he realized that these two weren't the Jay and Mal he knew now._

 _Mal's hair was darker and shorter, her skin was paler, she was a few inches shorter, and instead of having the warmth in her eyes and kind smile he was used to, Mal was grinning evilly, and her eyes were cold, hard, and hungry._

 _Jay looked paler, too, as well as less muscular, and was wearing the clothes he'd worn back on the Isle. His friendly yet cocky attitude was replaced by arrogance, aggression, and cruelty._

 _It suddenly hit Carlos what was going on-he was dreaming about his first day at the Isle high school after being transferred from a school on the other side of the Isle, maybe a few months before Evie came._

 _Carlos's vision suddenly shifted, and he was seeing the dream from a bystanders point of view. His past self was pale and had less freckles, and his hair was spiked instead of the sideswept look he wore now, as well as wore an old Isle outfit._

 _Carlos felt a pang in his heart as took note of his past self trying to hide the fact that he was trembling, his eyes wide with fear and his breath quick and shaky. He looked so timid, small, weak, and unsure, the perfect target for bullies like past Mal and past Jay._

" _What you are doing here, little boy? This is the big kids school. The elementary school's down the street." Jay jeered._

" _I'm not a little boy. I'm transferring from the school on the other side of the Isle. I'm a high school student, like you." Carlos said, trying to sound brave._

" _Oh, really? No wonder I didn't recognize you, runt. What's your name?" Mal asked threateningly._

" _Carlos de Vil. Son of Cruella de Vil." Carlos said, wiping his hands on his jacket._

" _De Vil, huh? You must love dogs, then." Jay jeered, and made a barking noise._

 _Carlos screamed and squeezed his eyes shut, raising his arms in self defense._

 _Mal and Jay laughed and began making more barking noises while a crowd of students gathered around. Carlos backed up farther, until his backpack slid off this shoulders, and Jay grabbed it._

" _Hey!" Carlos cried, trying to reach for it, "Give that back!"_

 _He tried to charge at Jay while Mal took his backpack, but Jay stopped him in his tracks by shoving him to the group._

 _Everyone laughed, and Jay taunted, "You weigh as much as a pillow."_

 _Mal pulled his lunchbox out, and looked surprised when she opened it._

" _Would you look at that? There's actual human food in here! I thought all you de Vils ate was doggie kibble! Well, I know what I'm eating for lunch, now." Mal jeered, placing his lunch inside her backpack._

" _Guys, please, leave me alone! I don't want any trouble!" Carlos pleaded._

 _Everyone laughed again, Mal cried, "Did you hear that, everyone, a VK doesn't want trouble!"_

 _She threw his backpack to the ground and jumped on it, Carlos's face horrified while everyone around them jeered and yelled insults._

" _You just broke one of my inventions!" Carlos screeched._

" _Oh, oops! I'm so sorry!" Mal said sarcastically._

" _LEAVE HIM ALONE!" a voice yelled, silencing everyone._

 _A boy with wavy golden hair in a blood red shirt, distressed navy blue jeans, a large black hooded jacket, and black worn out sneakers shoved his way through the audience, his dark eyes hard and angry, jaw firmly set, and fists clenched._

" _Well, well, if it isn't Golden Boy." Mal sneered._

 _The blond boy stepped protectively in front of Carlos and said, "Jay, Mal, I'll ask you politely_ once _\- please give him back his stuff and walk away."_

" _Why should we?" Jay snarled._

" _He's new. It's rather low of you guys to beat up the new kid on his first day, don't you think? Plus, he didn't do anything to justify it!" the blonde guy protested._

" _He needs to learn who rules this school." Mal said coldly._

" _Just because your mom's Maleficent doesn't mean you're entitled to be the school dictator! You think you're a princess because your mom rules the Isle, but in reality, you're on the same level as the rest of us." the blond guy shouted as he helped Carlos to his feet._

 _He turned to Jay and said, "Not to mention, you keep him around because you're too 'special' to do any dirty work, so you rely on his muscle and athletic talents and stupidity to prevent you from hurting yourself, because God forbid you chip a fingernail!"_

" _OOH!" the audience cheered._

" _What did you just say?" Jay growled, fists clenching._

" _You heard me, meathead." the blond guy said._

" _FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!" the crowd chanted._

" _Hope your strength can back your words, pansy." Jay snarled._

 _He suddenly charged at the blond guy, who shoved Carlos out of the way and then landed a hard kick to Jay's core._

 _Jay crumpled for a second, but quickly got up and landed a right hook to his opponent's face, making him grunt._

 _The blond guy grabbed Jay's wrist as he went in for a left-handed punch and twisted it, making Jay yelp._

 _With incredible speed, he suddenly hoisted Jay up in the air, making everyone gasp, and then slammed him onto the stone pathway below._

" _OOH!" the audience cried._

 _Jay staggered to his feet, his nose bleeding, and in the blink of eye, he struck the blond boy's face with a series of punches, forcing him to back up._

 _The blond guy suddenly kneed Jay in the gut, and he yelled in pain and collapsed._

 _Seeing his chance, the blond guy tackled Jay to the ground, pinning and suffocating him with his weight._

" _Give up, Jay. I don't want to have to hurt you anymore." the blond guy said._

 _Jay shook his head and continued struggling, but the blond guy was too strong._

" _You can't escape me. Just say you give up and I'll get off you. I really don't want you to suffocate to death." the blond guy begged._

 _Jay continued struggling, but eventually croaked, "Okay, fine. I give up."_

 _The blonde guy climbed off of Jay, and everyone was silent was shock._

" _He...he did. He won." someone whispered._

" _I can't believe it." another person whispered._

" _Who would've thought Golden Boy was so strong?" someone else mumbled._

 _The bell from the school rang, letting everyone know the first classes of the day had started._

 _Jay got to his feet, coughing and rasped, "I won't forget this."_

 _Everyone scampered off, trying to not be so late to class that they got detentions._

 _The blond guy turned to Carlos, breathing heavily, and smiled._

 _Carlos flinched and said, "Please don't hurt me, man!"_

" _Relax," he said gently, "I'm not going to hurt you. I was trying to protect you."_

" _Protect me? Why?" Carlos asked._

" _Because wanting to help is in my nature." the blond guy said, shrugging._

" _So, I thought I heard that you're Carlos, son of Cruella de Vil?" he continued._

" _Yeah. Who are you?" Carlos asked._

" _My name's Gold Gothel, Mother Gothel's son." Gold said kindly._

"Mother Gothel?" _Carlos asked, looking at Gold's hair._

" _Yeah, I'm not sure why I was born a blond. It probably came from my dad, because as far as I know, I don't have Rapunzel's healing powers. My little sister Ginny looks more like our mom than I do, but I am her son. Although, she does tell me a lot that she wishes I wasn't…" Gold trailed off sadly._

" _I feel you. Listen, thanks for saving me. I'm happy to return the favor sometime." Carlos said, smiling._

 _Gold looked surprised and said, "Really?"_

 _Carlos nodded and said, "Just holler if you ever need my help, and I'll come running."_

" _Thanks. While we're here, you want me to help you find your first class?" Gold asked, handing Carlos his backpack._

" _That'd be awesome, thanks." Carlos said._

" _Follow me, then." Gold said, walking towards the building._

 _Carlos followed him, and then his vision went completely white._

 _When it cleared, Gold was laying on his stomach in front of Carlos, extremely thin, coughing and wheezing, sweat and tears pouring down his face, and was trembling all over._

" _Gold?" Carlos asked._

 _Gold looked up at him, his eyes bloodshot, miserable and pleading._

" _Help me...you promised…" he rasped._

"What happened? _GOLD?!" Carlos asked, grabbing his shoulders._

 _He felt a sudden chill, and looked up to see the Grim Reaper slowly approaching, a scythe in his bony hands._

" _No. NO, GOLD! GOLD!" Carlos cried, panicking._

 _Gold grabbed his hand as grunted, "Save me...hurry…"_

" _I-I will. Just hang on, okay?!" Carlos cried._

 _Gold's eyes grew dimmer as the Grim Reaper got closer, and his breathing slowed._

" _Gold, don't go! Hang on! I'll I'll come for you, I promise! GOLD!" Carlos shrieked._

Carlos's eyes suddenly shot open, and he sat up in bed and shouted, "GOLD!"

Jay startled awake and leaped to his feet, assuming a fighting stance, then lowered his fists when he looked around and saw nothing.

"Carlos, you okay?" Jay asked, rushing to his bedside.

"I...I need to talk to Ben! I think Gold Gothel may be dying!" Carlos said, panicking.

" _What?!"_ Jay asked.

Carlos explained the dream he had to Jay, who looked more and more concerned as Carlos went into further detail.

"Are you sure it wasn't just a dream?" Jay asked when Carlos was finished.

"No...but I don't want to take any chances! Gold needs to come here. If he really is sick, he can get the medical treatment he needs to save his life. If it turns out he's not, he'll be away from his horrid mother and finally in the place where he belongs. It's win-win either way!" Carlos pleaded.

Jay nodded and said, "Alright, but it's still the middle of the night. We'll have to talk to Ben in the morning. Unless you think Gold's so close to dying we need to talk to him now."

Carlos hesitated and said, "I think he'll be fine for maybe one more day. I'll talk to Ben tomorrow."

"Alright, then. Good night." Jay said, climbing back into bed.

"'Night." Carlos said, laying down and turning to his side.

But for the rest of the night, Carlos couldn't sleep, his mind occupied with memories of Gold, and the fear that every second he waited was one second closer to Gold dying.

When his alarm clock finally went off in the morning, Carlos leaped out of bed, quickly ran a brush through his hair, and scrambled into his clothes.

"Whoa, dude, calm down." Jay said.

"I'm perfectly calm." Dude the dog said, stretching.

"Not you, him." Jay said looking at Carlos.

"Don't tell me to calm down! This is an emergency!" Carlos cried, still getting dressed.

"Emergency?!" Dude asked, looking concerned.

Ignoring him, Jay said, "You're running around like there's no tomorrow!"

"THERE MIGHT NOT BE A TOMORROW FOR GOLD IF WE DON'T HURRY!" Carlos yelled.

Jay backed up in fright, his arms raised, and Dude whimpered.

"I'm sorry, it's just...Gold's always been like a brother to me. I finally have a chance to pay him back after all this time, and I'm not going to let it slip it my fingers, especially if it means saving Gold's life!" Carlos said, eyes full of determination.

"Aren't I like a brother to you?" Jay asked, sounding hurt.

"Of course! There's no reason I can't have multiple brothers! I just want to rescue Gold, okay?" Carlos said calmly.

Jay nodded and said, "Go talk to Ben, then. I hope Gold's okay."

"Me too." Carlos said.

He finished putting his outfit on, threw the door open, and raced off down the hall.

Carlos raced down the hall, weaving in between students and teachers, until he finally saw Ben chatting with Mal by the courtyard.

"BEN!" Carlos cried, sprinting up to him.

"BEN, you have to help me! One of my best friends on the Isle's extremely sick, probably dying! You and I are the only ones who can save him! I don't know how much time he has left! You owe me for-!" Carlos cried, breathlessly.

"Whoa, whoa! Carlos, calm down!" Ben said, putting his hands on Carlos's shoulders, "I can't understand a word you're saying. Take some deep breaths and start over, okay?"

Carlos took some deep breaths and said, "I need you to transfer Gold Gothel to Auradon right away. He's extremely sick, he's dying even! Auradon's the only place who can give him the treatment he needs to save him! Please, you owe for helping save you from Uma's pirate crew on the Isle!"

"Why do you think Gold's dying?" Mal asked.

"I had a dream last night about it. It was awful. He looked stick thin, his eyes were bloodshot, he was coughing and wheezing and looked like he was struggling to breathe, and he was sweating so much and trembling. He begged me to help him. And then the Grim Reaper showed up, and Gold warned me to hurry!" Carlos said, tears building in his eyes.

"Are you sure it wasn't just a dream?" Mal asked.

"No, but I'm not risking it! If he's dying, bringing him to Auradon will save him. And he deserves to be here regardless. You remember what a good guy he is. This is where he belongs. Please, you have to help me!" Carlos cried, tears running down his face.

Ben nodded and said, "Alright, you and I will take the limo the Isle to get Gold right after breakfast. If he's healthy we'll take him here, and if he's sick, we'll take to the hospital, okay?"

"Thank you." Carlos sobbed.

"You're welcome. Are you okay, by the way? You look you hardly slept." Ben noted.

"Because I couldn't sleep after my dream." Carlos said wearily.

"Come get some breakfast, and then we'll leave, okay?" Ben asked.

"I'm coming with you. You'll need a good fighter in case some of the VKs on the Isle try to mess with you. Plus, I'm good reasoning with Gothel." Mal said.

"And me," Jay said, coming up behind them "I can drive the limo, and I can also help if you get threatened by a gang."

Everyone nodded, and walked into the dining room, trying to not draw too much attention to themselves.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Jay asked as he climbed into the driver's seat.

Mal, Ben, and Carlos nodded, and climbed into the back.

Jay started the car, and they were off, watching as their school disappeared behind them.

"So, tell me about Gold. What's he like? And why is he named Gold?" Ben asked.

"His name is Gold because he has golden hair. We think he got it from his dad, but we don't know who he is." Mal said.

"Gold's one of those villain kids with a really good heart, but had the misfortune of being born into an evil family on the Isle, like Dizzy and Hadie. He's brave, considerate, kind, strong, friendly, caring, supportive, and helpful. He saved me from being harassed and possibly beaten up by Mal and Jay." Carlos said.

" _WHAT?!"_ Ben asked, shocked.

"Oh yeah, I remember that." Mal said thoughtfully.

"Why would you two do that?!" Ben asked, turning to his girlfriend.

"He was the new kid at school. We were trying to 'show him who's boss' and impress everyone. Mostly our parents. But then Gold came in to defend Carlos, and he ended up beating me in a fist fight." Jay called from the front of the limo.

"I regret now. And I probably should've said this sooner, but I'm sorry, Carlos." Mal said sadly.

"Yeah, me too. In hindsight, it was a rather stupid thing to do." Jay called.

"I forgive you." Carlos said kindly.

"Sounds like Gold's a great guy. He'd been an excellent addition to the Auradon Prep campus. I can't wait to meet him." Ben said, smiling.

Carlos nodded and said, "He deserves a better life."

"Hey, guys, we're approaching Belle's Harbor and the bridge to the Isle." Jay called.

Mal, Ben, and Carlos looked out onto the front window as the magical golden bridge that allowed Auradon cars onto the Isle appeared.

Carlos swallowed, remembering what had happened the last time he ventured into his old home, and felt his heart rate rise.

"It'll be fine, Carlos," Jay reassured, looking at him from the rearview mirror, "We'll be in and out in the blink of an eye, okay?"

Carlos nodded, still feeling tense, and Mal rubbed his back as the car drove through the barrier and onto the Isle.

Jay parked the limo in a hidden spot and camouflaged it, then turned to Mal and Carlos and asked, "So, do you guys remember where Gothel lives?"

"Seriously?! She has the most famous jewelry shop on the Isle!" Mal cried.

"Yeah, I know, but I never had the courage to go inside and try to swipe something. They take burglaries extremely seriously there. I know kids who tried, and they ended up getting badly cut by Gothel's knife, pulverized by Ginny, or Gold would twist their wrist until they dropped whatever they stole. No one's ever gotten away with a robbery from Gothel's Glittering Jewels." Jay said, shuddering at the memories.

"I know where it is. But we're going to have to lie low. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves." Carlos said darkly.

Everyone nodded, and followed Carlos through the busy streets and winding alleys of the Isle of the Lost, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

"Ben, are you okay?" Mal asked, noticing how anxious Ben looked and how he kept flinching.

"I'm afraid I'll get abducted again." Ben mumbled, quickening his pace to keep up with Mal, Jay, and Carlos.

"Don't worry. As long as you stick with us, you'll be fine. We all promised we'd protect you, remember?" Jay asked.

Ben smiled, remembering the letter Mal had made that all the VKs in Auradon except for Hadie, Clay, Harper, Claudine, and Hazel had signed, and said, "Yeah."

"Here we are," Carlos said, suddenly stopping in front of a massive building.

On the bottom part was a rundown large wood shop that had a hand-painted sign reading "Gothel's Glittering Jewels" hanging from the roof. It had been painted black, and the wood looked like it was cracked and splintering in many places.

Above them loomed a sinister dark tower made from gray stone that was covered in thorns and a red roof covered in spikes. All the tower windows were made with glass and had iron bars in front of them.

Ben whistled and said, "This looks more like a prison than a home."

"Gothel's terrified of someone climbing the tower to try to kill her, given what happened to her before she got sent here." Mal explained.

"But Eugene didn't kill Mother Gothel." Ben said, frowning.

"He kinda did. When he cut Rapunzel's hair, he destroyed her only life source, and that's what killed her." Jay said.

"Then why is she here now?" Ben asked.

"She was resurrected with magic, like mine and Evie's moms." Mal said.

"Ah. Anyway, let's go get Gold." Ben said, sounding eager to change the subject.

The four friends climbed the rickety, squeaking stairs, and marched into Mother Gothel's jewelry shop.

" _Mal? Jay? Carlos?!"_ A female voice called in disbelief.

A pale girl with dark frizzy hair and dark eyes in flowy garnet red ¾ sleeve shirt, apple red pants, gold boots, a navy blue short hooded cloak, chipped dangly red earrings, a large black and gold bracelet on her left wrist, and a gold flower necklace that looked like it was missing a few petals was staring at them in disbelief from behind a counter.

"Hi, Ginny. Long time no see." Mal said cooly.

Ginny's face turned into a threatening snarl as she came out from behind the counter and pointed a knife at Carlos's throat, making him quickly back away.

"You'd better not be here to steal from the store." she snarled.

"Ginny Gothel, I assume?" Ben asked respectfully.

"That would be me." Ginny said, leering at him.

"We're not here to steal from your store, although you do have some lovely items. We just want to talk to your mom." Ben said diplomatically.

"My mother? _Why?!"_ Ginny snapped.

"Because we want to take Gold to Auradon. We heard he's really sick and we think he'd be a good addition to our school, but we need your mother's permission to let him go." Ben explained.

Ginny frowned, considering for a minute, and then lowered her knife.

"Fine," Ginny snarled, sheathing her knife in a pouch on her belt, "But you all better not steal anything while I'm getting her. My family doesn't take kindly to thievery."

"We know." Jay said darkly.

Ginny scowled at them one last time, then turned on her heel, opened the door against the back wall, and they heard her footsteps pounding against metal stairs as she ascended.

Carlos breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thanks, Ben. I was worried she was legit going to cut me."

"Well, fortunately, I've had a lot of experience being diplomatic. I'm glad she didn't hurt you, though." Ben said humbly.

Ben and the others suddenly heard a large amount of clanging on the stairs, and braced themselves for coming face to face with the mistress of the household.

The doorknob turned, and Ginny stepped out, glaring distrustfully at Ben, Mal, Carlos, and Jay, followed by a taller, older woman who shared her dark eyes and frizzy hair, pale complexion, and cold, hard eyes.

"Mal, Jay, Carlos, Your Majesty," Mother Gothel said icily, looking at each of them in turn, "My daughter says you want to speak with me about letting my son go with you to Auradon."

"That's correct, ma'am." Ben said respectfully.

"Hmm...what's in it for me?" Mother Gothel asked thoughtfully.

"Well, for starters, is Gold sick?" Carlos asked.

"He has a bad cough." Mother Gothel said casually.

"He's _extremely_ sick. He can't even get out of bed. And listening to him breathe...he sounds like a dying animal!" Ginny said disgustedly, leaning against a counter.

" _Ginny!"_ Mother Gothel cried, turning to her daughter.

"Well, you can't keep denying the truth by calling it a 'bad cough', Mother. Have you _seen_ the state Gold's in? He looks like a plague victim!" Ginny protested.

"If Gold's that sick, we can give him the medical treatment he needs in Auradon, as well as a better life once he gets out of the hospital." Ben reasoned.

"Again, what's in it for me?" Mother Gothel asked, turning back to the group.

"Well, for starters, it'd save you from the embarrassment of losing not one, but two kids. You know how people who lose a lot of children get mocked around here." Mal argued.

Ginny bit her lip and looked away while Mother Gothel set her jaw.

"Go on," she said, sounding interested.

"For another, you know Gold doesn't fit in here. He's always been too good for the Isle. Sending him to Auradon won't 'corrupt' him. Not to mention, you've always told everyone how much you loathe him and are embarrassed by him, and how you wish he wasn't your son. It sounds like he doesn't have a place on the Isle, or even in your cold heart. If he disgusts you so much that you don't care about him, why are you still holding onto him? Wouldn't you rather have him out of your hair?" Mal asked.

"You make a good point," Mother Gothel mumbled, scratching her chin.

Ben opened his mouth like he wanted to add something, but quickly shut it.

"Did you have something you wanted to say, Your Majesty?" Mother Gothel asked, taking notice.

"No, ma'am." Ben said, trying to hide the fact that his hands were shaking.

Mother Gothel thought for a minute, while Mal's, Jay's, Ben's, and Carlos's hearts pounded in their chests and butterflies flew in their stomachs while Ginny peered curiously at her mom.

"Fine," Mother Gothel eventually snapped, "Take him away. I hope I never see him again."

"Yes, ma'am." Jay, Mal, and Carlos said.

"Thank you, ma'am." Ben said politely.

"MOTHER!" Ginny cried.

"Is there a problem, Ginny? I hope you're not implying that you're upset that your brother's being sent away?" Mother Gothel threatened, looming over her daughter.

"No, Mother. I was just...surprised. I thought you wanted to keep Gold here to pressure him into becoming evil." Ginny said weakly, trying to hide her shaking.

"Well, I changed, my mind. I'm allowed to do that, aren't I?" Mother Gothel asked coldly.

Ginny nodded, and said meekly, "The shelves look a little empty. I'll go get some more stuff from the store room."

Ginny scampered off through the door that was behind the counter she'd been standing at when they first arrived.

"Guys," Carlos said frantically, waving at them to follow him, "C'mon, let's go!"

"Right," Mal, Jay, and Ben said, following Carlos up the noisy black iron stairs to the top of the tower.

Their hearts immediately broke when they heard a male voice coughing and wheezing like he was struggling to breathe.

"Gold!" Carlos cried, barging into the room to the left of the staircase.

The looks on Carlos's, Mal's, Ben's and Jay's face changed from sorrow to horror when they saw Gold.

He looked exactly the way Carlos had described in his dream. Laying on his stomach on the floor, eyes bloodshot and filled with tears that fell down his face alongside sweat, shaking like a leaf in a windstorm, incredibly thin, and sounded like he was coughing up his lungs.

"Carlos?" Gold asked weakly as Carlos ran to his side.

"It's me." Carlos said trying to smile through the tears on his face.

"Does this mean I'm dying?" Gold rasped.

"No. We came here to rescue you. We're taking you to a hospital in Auradon, and once you recover, you'll be going to school with us." Mal said, her voice shaky from tears.

Gold's eyes widened, and he said, "But, my mom-!"

"She let you go. We convinced her." Jay said, taking deep breaths to control her emotions.

"What about Ginny?" Gold wheezed.

"I don't think we'll be able to convince your mom to release you both. We lucked out that we were able to persuade her to let you go to Auradon with us. Plus you know how Ginny's your mother's pride and joy." Mal said sadly.

"But, she's-!" Gold protested.

He suddenly started having a coughing fit, raising his left hand to his mouth to cover it. When he pulled it away, it had drops of red liquid on it.

"You're coughing up blood?!" Carlos shrieked, horrified.

"This is worse than I thought. We need to get him out of here, _now!"_ Ben commanded.

Jay, Mal, and Carlos nodded, and Jay hoisted Gold onto his back.

"No, wait, there's something I need to tell you!" Gold begged.

"Gold, you need to save your breath and your strength until we get to the hospital. Don't talk, okay?" Mal pleaded.

Gold gave a rusty sigh, but nodded.

Carlos, Ben, Jay, and Mal raced down the stairs and out the door, Mother Gothel giving her ill son one last hateful glare, and made a mad dash for the car, ignoring the strange looks everyone was giving them.

"What are you doing?!" Carlos yelled at Jay as he climbed into the driver's seat and began punching something in.

"I'm setting the GPS to give us directions to the nearest hospital, which, funny enough, is the one I got sent to when I broke my arm and twisted my wrist." Jay reported.

"That's great, now let's go!" Mal barked.

"Okay, I'm working on it!" Jay said, fumbling with the keychain.

He finally got hold of the limo key, started the ignition, and took off down the bridge.

Gold's eyes widened in fear, but Carlos held his hand and said, "It's okay. We've got a button that'll open the barrier for us."

The magical golden bridge appeared, and the look in Gold's eyes changed from fear to wonder as he took in what was happening.

"I know," Mal said, smiling, "It's cool, isn't it?"

Gold smiled and nodded vigorously at Mal before going into another coughing fit.

Ben handed Gold a tissue box, which Gold took a tissue from and began coughing into, red spots quickly appearing.

"Jay, how close are we to the hospital?" Ben asked, his voice full of concern.

"About 5 minutes, according to the GPS." Jay reported as he pulled in to Belle's Harbor.

"Can you make it that long, Gold?" Ben asked.

Gold nodded once he stopped coughing, and wiped his mouth with the tissue.

"Is there a trash can in here?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah, here." Ben said, pulling on a knob on the wall that seperated the driver's and passenger's portion of the limo.

A small garbage can rolled out, and Gold shakily placed the tissue inside.

Meanwhile, Mal grabbed her phone and sent a text to the VK group chat.

 _Gold Gothel coming to Auradon. Very sick-coughing up blood, bloodshot eyes, sweating, shaky, very thin. Taking him to hospital Jay went to when he broke his arm and twisted his ankle a few months ago._

 _Auradon City Mercy Hospital?_ Evie replied.

"We're going to Auradon City Mercy Hospital, right, Jay?" Mal asked.

"That would be the one." Jay confirmed, turning right onto a city street.

 _Yes._ Mal texted her friends.

 _We'll all be there soon._ Evie promised.

 _Sounds like Gold as severe pneumonia. You guys did the right thing, bringing him here. The doctors should be able to treat him. Hope he recovers soon!_ Hayden responded, adding a praying hands emoji to the end of his message.

"I let all the other VKs know what's happening. They said they'll be at the hospital soon." Mal reported.

"Can't you drive any faster, Jay?!" Carlos snapped.

"I'm going as fast as I can without breaking the speed limit!" Jay cried, looking stressed, "Besides, we're almost there! I just need to turn the corner and drive a little farther down Beast Road!"

"Guys, please don't fight!" Ben pleaded as Jay turned left onto Beast Road.

"How much farther?" Mal asked.

"400 feet. It's on the left." Jay said.

Jay drove a bit farther down Beast Road, then made a sharp left turn and stopped in front of the entrance to the emergency room.

"You guys get Gold inside. I'll find a place to park." Jay called.

Carlos, Ben, and Mal nodded, and stepped out of the car while Ben grabbed Gold.

Once everyone had gotten out, Carlos closed the car door and Jay sped off while Mal, Carlos, and Ben raced inside with Gold on Ben's back.

"Ma'am, can you please help our friend?!" Ben asked the receptionist as he, Mal, and Carlos ran up to the desk.

The receptionist stood up and peered at Gold, her eyes widening in shock.

"My goodness, that's terrible! What on Earth-?!" she cried.

Gold starting coughing again, using his hand to cover his face, and when he pulled it away, it was covered in drops of blood.

"Did you just cough that up?!" the receptionist asked, horrified.

Gold nodded and wheezed, "Help…"

"Can you treat him? Please?!" Mal begged.

"Of course! Let me see who's on standby right now." the receptionist said, turning back to her computer.

The receptionist typed something into her computer and picked up her phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, is this Dr. Wood? Excellent. I have a boy here in the ER who needs help immediately. He's showing signs of extreme fatigue, he's unhealthily thin, his eyes are bloodshot, he's wheezing, and he's coughing up blood. Great, thank you!" the receptionist said.

She put the phone down and said, "He'll be here soon. I'm sure your friend will be fine."

The door to the emergency room suddenly burst open, and a team of doctors wheeled a stretcher out and stopped in front of Ben and the others.

"Is that him?" the doctor pushing the back of the stretcher asked, looking at Gold.

Ben nodded and gently placed Gold on the stretcher.

Carlos squeezed Gold's hand and said, "You'll be just fine, now, Gold. When you're all better, you're finally going to get to live the life you deserve. And I'll be by your side whenever you need me."

Gold smiled and rasped, "Thank you, brother."

The doctors wheeled Gold away into the ER, and Carlos was left to stare in shock, tears in his eyes.

"Carlos? What's wrong?" Mal asked, walking to his side.

"He...he called me brother. That's the first time he's ever… I thought Gold just saw me as a good friend." Carlos choked.

"That's great, Carlos." Ben said, beaming.

Tears started falling down Carlos's face, and he asked, "Do you think he'll make it? I told him all that stuff before he went in the ER to reassure him. I'm scared."

Jay put his hand on Carlos's shoulder and said, "I'm sure Gold will be just fine. He's tough and strong. I'm sure he'll make a full recovery."

Mal took Carlos's hand and gently said, "Let's go wait in the lobby, okay?"

Carlos nodded and let Ben, Mal, and Jay guide him to a couch, where they sat in solemn silence until a crooked portal appeared slightly above them, and they heard a guy's shout echoing inside it.

Hayden shot out of it, yelled, "Ah, shit!" and then landed on the floor on his stomach with a large "OOF!"

"Oww…" Hayden moaned as he climbed to his feet.

"Hey, Hayden." Mal called from the couch.

Hayden looked at her, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "Thank god. I was worried the portal had transported us to the wrong place."

Hayden turned back to the portal and shouted into it, "You can come through, guys, just be careful! The portal's in kind of an awkward angle!"

A girl's yelling sounded through the portal, and Evie suddenly fell onto Hayden, knocking him onto the floor.

"OW!" he cried.

"Sorry," Evie said, climbing off of him as Harley came through the portal and landed on the floor with a thud.

"It's fine. Sorry the portal's messed up." Hayden said to Evie and Harley.

"At least it got us to where we needed to be." Harley said as he tried to get to his feet, only to have Harper tackle him as she came through the portal.

"Thank you for breaking my fall." Harper said, climbing off of Harley.

"My back…" Harley moaned.

As soon as everyone had made it through the portal and finished slamming on the ground, Hayden shut it and asked, "Is everyone okay?"

Everyone nodded, and Hazel scoffed and said, "I told you _I_ should've been the one to make the portal! We wouldn't have been slammed into the ground if it had been mine!"

"You're evil! How was I to know that you weren't planning to take us back to Isle, or worse?!" Hayden barked.

"Guys, now's really not the time for fighting! We're here for Gold, remember?" Fran interrupted.

"Right. How is he?" Hayden asked, turning to Mal, Jay, Ben, and Carlos.

"We're not sure. He was taken into the ER a few minutes ago, and we haven't heard a word about his condition since." Carlos reported anxiously.

"Ah." Hayden said darkly, his face concerned.

"We're sorry we're late, by the way. We were going to come sooner, but Fran, Evie, and Claire insisted on stopping by the store to get Gold gifts." Hadie explained, sounding confused.

"We learned in Goodness 102 that in Auradon, the nice thing to do when a friend or family member is hospitalized is to bring them gifts like flowers, cards, and chocolates to cheer them up." Fran explained.

"Wait," Claudine said, frowning at her sister, "There's _more than one_ goodness class?!"

"Yeah." Fran said, smiling at her sister.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Claudine howled.

"Shh!" Everyone hissed.

"Miss, please don't shout in the hospital!" a nurse called.

Claudine snarled at her, and turned back to the group and growled, "This place keeps getting more and more infuriating by the minute!"

"Claudine!" Fran snapped as the door to the ER burst open and Dr. Wood ran up to the group.

"Are you Gold Gothel's friends?" he asked, removing his mask.

"Yes," Carlos cried, leaping to his feet, "How is he?"

"You were smart to bring him in when you did. His pneumonia is one of the worst cases I've ever seen. With the state he's in, I'd say he would have lasted maybe a few more days before he died." Dr. Wood said solemnly.

"That's horrible!" Fran cried, her hands over her mouth and eyes moist.

"Can you cure him?" Jay asked quickly.

"Yes, but it'll take time. His immune system's been heavily weakened, and not just from the disease." Dr. Wood said.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked, frowning.

"He's body's scarily thin because it looks like he hasn't eaten a week. And it appears that he seldom eats at all." Dr. Wood explained.

"Ah." Carlos said, his voice pained.

"Do you know why Gold's starving, Carlos?" Mal asked, turning to him.

Carlos nodded and said, "Mother Gothel doesn't feed her kids if they do something good. And since Gold's so good, he doesn't get fed by his mom a lot. I had to buy him his lunch a lot back on the Isle."

"You're kidding!" Claire cried.

"Wow. And all this time, I thought Gold was naturally scrawny." Hayden mumbled.

"You didn't see the way he hoisted me in the air that one time?" Jay asked, incredulous.

"I wasn't there that day." Hayden explained.

"How long will it take Gold to recover?" Evie asked Dr. Wood.

"He should be able to be released from the hospital in about six weeks, but he won't be able to fully recover for 3-6 months, if he's like most people with severe pneumonia." Dr. Wood explained.

"3-6 MONTHS?!" All the good VKs and Ben cried.

"I'm afraid so. When he's out of the hospital, make sure he gets lots of rest and fluids, have him take an antibacterial medicine twice a day, and don't let him take any cough medicine. Coughing is a way your body fights off an infection." Dr. Wood instructed.

"Can we see Gold now?" Carlos asked.

"Yes, of course. Follow me." Dr. Wood said.

Dr. Wood led them to the elevators, pressed the button for the third floor, and led them through a series of hallways when the elevator stopped.

Dr. Wood knocked on the door to room 352, and Gold's raspy voice replied, "Come in."

Dr. Wood and the friends walked in to find Gold in a hospital gown on a bed, an IV in his right arm, and a vital organs monitor on his left. His breathing was still bad, but had slowed to the point where he sounded relaxed. Gold was staring out the window into the hospital garden, tears running down his face.

"Are you okay, Gold?" Carlos asked, walking to his side.

"Yes. I've just never seen anything so...beautiful." Gold wheezed, smiling through the tears, "Is this really Auradon?"

"It sure is." Ben said, smiling as he walked towards Gold.

"It's prettier than I ever imagined. I feel like I'm in a dream." Gold said, his heart speeding up.

"It's real, Gold. And once you get out, you'll get to see so much more beautiful things and meet amazing people!" Fran said kindly, her eyes shining.

Gold turned and discovered in a shock how many people there were in the room.

"Uh," Gold asked, turning to Fran, Claire, Harley, and Hayden, "Do I know you four?"

Hayden, Harley, Fran, and Claire burst out laughing at that, while Gold frowned in confusion.

"What's so funny?" Gold asked.

"Gold, that's Fran, Claire, Hayden, and Harley! You know, they transferred 3 months ago?" Evie asked.

Gold's eyes widened, and he rasped, "For real?! _Wow!_ You guys look great!"

"Thanks." the four of them said, stopping their laughter.

"We're sorry we laughed. It's just we didn't think we'd changed so much that we couldn't be recognized by our old peers!" Fran said.

"Ah. I see your siblings made it here, too. Hey, Hazel, Hadie, Harper, Clay, and Claudine!" Gold said kindly.

"Hey, Gold!" Hadie and Clay said, beaming.

Harper snorted and looked disgusted, Claudine sneered at Gold, but Hazel stared with wide eyes at him, swallowing like there was something in her throat, and her cheeks turning pink.

"How's Ginny?" Harley asked.

Gold's eyes widened, and he rasped, "That's right! There's something I need to tell you all!"

"What is it?" Claire asked.

Gold gestured for them to lean in and whispered, "Ginny's forming an army. She's trying to round up every VK left on the Isle and get them to follow her so she can find a way to break the barrier and take over Auradon."

"How is she going to do _that?_ Ginny's one of the least known villains on the Isle. The only thing that made her notable was you being her brother and your mother being a teacher!" Harper scoffed.

"She's asserting her dominance now more than ever. Since Mal, Hazel, and Harper have left the Isle and Uma epically failed at her mission, she's becoming the one to fear, and she's trying to gain support. And it's working. She's already got Theo, Evelyn, Storm, Alayna, Madison, and Leo behind her, and many others are considering joining her, too. We have to stop her, and quick!" Gold mumbled.

He suddenly went into a coughing fit, making everyone back away while Gold grabbed the tissue box on the left side of his bed.

"Hold on," Ben said, taking out his notepad when Gold stopped coughing, "Who are Theo, Evelyn, Storm, Alayna, Madison, and Leo?"

"Theo's the son of Theodora, the Wicked Witch of the West, Evelyn's the daughter of Evanora, the Wicked Witch of the East, Storm is Stromboli's son, Alayna is Alameda Slim's daughter, Madison's the daughter of Madam Medusa, and Leo's Lefou's son." Fran explained.

"Who else is think of joining?" Mal asked Gold.

"Like I said, pretty much every VK that's left on the Isle. Shen-Shan Yu's son, Chev-son of Chernabog, Rick-Governor Ratcliffe's son, Hector-son of the Horned King, Percy-Percival McLeach's son, Nolan-Queen Narissa's son, Amara-Amos Slade's daughter, Hanna-Han's daughter, Moriah-Morgana's daughter, Lily Theresa-daughter of Lyle Tiberius Rourke, and Helena Kathleen-Helga Katrina Sinclair's daughter." Gold listed.

All the VKs were silent with shock as the took in what Gold had said.

"Gold's right. With all that power, Ginny could definitely take down Auradon if she and her gang escaped. We have to stop her!" Evie cried.

"Okay, I'll make a note to bring over Ginny and her followers as soon as we're done reforming Claudine, Harper, and Hazel." Ben said, adding something to his notepad.

"Which is never going to happen!" Harper and Claudine said at the same time while Hazel stared in confusion.

Claudine and Harper turned to each other in surprise, and then quickly looked away from each other.

Ben's phone suddenly rang, and he picked it up and answered, "Hello?"

"Oh, hi, Fairy Godmother. What's up? … Okay, I'll be right there-wait, what? … But there was an emergency! … *sigh* Yes, ma'am. I'm really sorry… I will. Okay, bye." Ben said.

He hung up and announced, "We have to go back to school now. We're in trouble for leaving without getting permission from Fairy Godmother, so she's not letting us staying out anymore."

"You're leaving me?!" Gold cried.

"Yeah, but just for today. We'll catch up more tomorrow, promise." Carlos said kindly.

Gold smiled and said, "I'll be waiting. Thanks so much, guys!"

"You're welcome." Everyone except Harper, Claudine, and Hazel said as they dropped off their gifts for Gold.

"So, since Fairy Godmother wants us back at school as soon as possible, I can teleport us back." Hayden said, his irises glowing blue.

"NO!" Everyone cried.

"I drove Ben, Mal, Carlos, and Gold here in the limo, I'll just drive us back." Jay said.

"Will it fit all of us?" Fran asked.

"Yeah, it's big enough." Jay said, spinning the keychain on his finger.

"Well, it sounds better than risking Hayden messing up another portal, even if it's slower." Hazel spat, still looking bewildered.

"Hey!" Hayden cried.

"I agree. Sorry, Hayden, but I don't want to get more bruises or worse from another awkwardly placed portal. Maybe you could practice more and try again some other time?" Fran asked, taking Hayden's hand.

Hayden sighed and said, "Alright."

Everyone said goodbye to Gold as the left, and climbed into the limo. As Jay started driving back towards Auradon, everyone's hearts sped up, recalling with a chill Gold's sinister warning.

Happy belated Thanksgiving to all my American followers! Sorry for the delay!


	5. Fire and Ice

Chapter 5: Fire and Ice

Everyone's hearts were pounding as the walked to the front of school, Fairy Godmother standing on the stairs in front of them, frowning.

"Is that all of you?" she asked as the group stopped in front of the stairs.

"Yes, ma'am." Ben said smiling, but Mal could hear the nerves in his voice.

"Follow me, then." Fairy Godmother instructed.

Ben and the VKs followed Fairy Godmother inside and through the hallways until the stopped in her office.

Fairy Godmother closed the door behind them, and sat at her desk, hands clasped in front of her.

"What were you all thinking?! Leaving school grounds without permission, stealing a car, and going to _The Isle of The Lost?!_ Those are _not_ the actions of Auradon Prep students, much less good people! Do you have _any idea_ the danger you could've put yourselves in?!" Fairy Godmother snapped.

"But, Fairy Godmother, there was an emergency! One of our friends, Gold Gothel, was sick and close to dying, so we had to bring him out of there!" Mal cried.

"Then you should've told me about it, and I would've sent an ambulance to the Isle to get your friend!" Fairy Godmother countered.

"That would've drawn too much attention! Besides, his mother wouldn't have listened to the paramedics! Only a villain or a VK can reason with her!" Jay protested.

Fairy Godmother frowned, thinking, and then said, "You did break school rules, but it was for a good cause, so I'm going to forbid you all from leaving campus just for the rest of today, okay?"

"No, that's not fair." Mal protested.

"Mal, rules are rules." Fairy Godmother said patiently.

"I know. But it's unfair to punish everyone because of what Jay, Carlos, Ben, and I did! Only the four of us knew about it! Everyone else didn't know until I texted them and asked them to meet us at the hospital. You said so yourself, punishing many for the actions of a few is immoral. If you're going to punish Jay, Carlos, Ben, and I, fine, but leave the others out of it!" Mal pleaded.

Everyone stared at Mal in surprise until Ben beamed at her and said, "I agree."

"Alright, then. Ben, Mal, Jay, and Carlos, no leaving campus today. Everyone else is free to go." Fairy Godmother ruled.

"Thank you, ma'am," everyone but Mal, Ben, Carlos, and Jay said.

"Yes, ma'am." Mal, Ben, Carlos, and Jay said solemnly.

"You all are dismissed," Fairy Godmother said, turning to her computer.

"Thank you," everyone said as they left.

As soon as the door was shut behind them, Ben pulled Mal into a fierce hug and kiss, making Hayden wince, Fran bite her lip as she stared at Hayden, and Claire, Evie, and Harley facepalm looking at Hayden and Fran.

"I can't believe you did that!" Ben said as he pulled away, grinning from ear-to-ear.

Mal blushed and said, "It's not right to punish the innocent."

"Right you are. I'm glad you know that now. You never cease to amaze me, Maleficent Bertha." Ben said romantically.

"Wait, what?" Hadie asked.

"That's my full name." Mal explained.

Hazel burst out laughing and wheezed, " _Bertha?!_ Your mom really is evil!"

"You're one to talk, Hazel _Doris._ " Mal countered.

Hazel stopped laughing as Harper and Claudine cried, "Ooh!"

"Girls, please don't fight! Come on, Mal, I need you to help me welcome a new student." Ben said, taking Mal's hand.

"New student?" Fran asked.

Ben nodded and said, "Her name's Elissa, Queen Elsa's daughter. She wasn't able to transfer with her older brother and cousins because she was studying abroad at the time. But she returned to Arendelle, and now she's coming here."

"Ah." Hayden said darkly, his face turning to a deep scowl.

"Hayden, I know how you feel about the students from Arendelle. You and your siblings don't have to come if you don't want to." Ben said with an exasperated sigh.

"I'll go!" Hadie said, stepping forward.

" _HADIE!"_ Hayden and Hazel cried, looking at their brother in disbelief.

"What? Is the 'rivalry' between our families so bad that I can't even _look at them?!_ I just want to look!" Hadie cried.

Hayden frowned in consideration, and then said, "Just promise you won't get in a fight with the Arendelle kids."

"Promise." Hadie said.

Evie, Jay, Hadie, and Carlos followed Ben and Mal to the lobby where Eli, Andrew, and Kriss were already standing, looking ecstatic.

"Hey, guys!" Ben said, as he walked in with his friends.

Eli and his cousins turned and smiled at the group until they saw Hadie, which made them scowl.

"What are you doing here?" Eli asked coldly.

"I just want to meet your sister!" Hadie protested.

"Why? So you can curse her the way your dad did to Andrew?" Kriss spat.

" _NO!_ I just want to say hi because she's new! Do you seriously hate us so much that we can't even _try_ to be civil?!" Hadie cried, his hair and fists starting to ignite.

"We're just trying to protect our cousin/sister!" Andrew barked.

"From what?! Our dad's actions don't define who we are!" Hadie yelled, his fists and hair catching fire.

"Enough!" Ben cried, stepping between them, "Can you guys try to at least tolerate each other for a little while?! Eli, Andrew, Kriss, I promise Hadie won't do anything to harm Elissa, alright?"

"Fine." Eli, Kriss, and Andrew said grumpily.

" _Fine."_ Hadie spat.

"How long until Ella gets here?" Eli asked.

" _Ella?"_ Mal asked.

"That's her nickname. She only lets people close to her call her that." Kriss explained.

"But seriously, how long?" Andrew asked.

"Maybe a few more minutes?" Ben estimated.

"That's great!" Andrew said, breathing a sigh of relief.

 _Please don't let her hate me and my siblings like the rest of her family._ Hadie prayed.

Mal put her hand on Hadie's shoulder, making him realize he was trembling.

"You okay?" Mal whispered.

"What if Ella decides to hate me, too?" Hadie asked.

"Ben promised he'll find a way to heal the rift between your families. If she hates you, we'll work with her and her brother and cousins to set things right, okay?" Mal said softly.

Hadie nodded, and swallowed the lump in his throat, his heart pounding.

The waiting felt like an eternity as Hadie stared at the clock and paced the room while the Arendelle kids stared at him. Half of him wished time would move faster so that he could get it over with, the other half of him wished it would slow down so that he wouldn't have to deal the pain of another person hating him for something he didn't do.

Finally, he heard the sound of a car pulling up the driveway and stopping in front of the school. Footsteps echoed up the stairs outside, and Ella opened the door.

Hadie let out an audible gasp when he saw her, his heart bursting inside his chest and face suddenly burning.

Ella's snowy white hair was done in an elegant braid that was swept over her left shoulder, a silver snowflake attached to her hairband. Silver snowflake earrings also hung from both of her ears, and glittery arctic blue eyeshadow with dark mascara complimented her sapphire eyes perfectly.

Ella's ¼ sleeve ice blue jacket was lined with faux fur with silver streaks around the collar, with a powder blue shirt underneath, white distressed jeans, silver high tops, a silver bracelet with the words "Let It Go" engraved in it on her right wrist, and her nails were painted teal.

Ella looked around her new school, grinning, and mumbled, "Nice."

She then spotted Hadie staring at her, making his stomach tense, and he suddenly felt super self-conscious.

Ella examined him from head to toe, then looked at him with a confident smile, one eyebrow raised, at gave him a flirtatious wink, making Hadie's face grow hotter.

"Ella!" Andrew and Kriss cried, running to embrace her while Eli walked calmly to her.

"Hey, guys!" Ella cried, hugging her cousins and her brother.

"We're glad you could finally make it." Eli said kindly.

"Glad to be here. But...have you been acting all princely and distant the whole time you've been here?!" Ella asked.

"No!" Eli cried.

" _Yes!"_ Andrew and Kriss countered sharply.

"Seriously?!" Ella asked, looking done with him.

"I'm the heir to the throne of Arendelle! I have to represent the kingdom well! And you two haven't been helping!" Eli cried, turning to his cousins.

"Mom's told us a million times that you can be a good leader and still be yourself!" Ella argued.

"This is who I am!" Eli countered.

"You and I both know that's not true! Being distant and reserved is _exactly_ what got Mom into trouble all those years ago! The whole 'freezing the kingdom' thing wouldn't have happened if she'd let people in! Why do you have to be so-?!" Ella yelled.

"Guys, stop!" Kriss cried, hands raised in self defense.

Eli and Ella looked around, and saw that a foot of snow had fallen on the ground, and ice was climbing up the walls.

"Sorry," they both said, looking embarrassed.

"Well, it's a good thing I came! I'll have this cleared up in no time!" Hadie said, flames appearing in both of his palms.

Andrew and Kriss gasped and looked frightened while Eli stepped forward to guard them and his sister.

"Don't you dare come near us with those flames!" Eli spat.

"Chill out, dude! All I want is to help clean up the mess you guys made!" Hadie protested.

"Not a chance! We don't trust you to try to help us with those wicked flames, not after what your father did!" Andrew said firmly.

"What are you guys talking about? Why are you being so rude?!" Ella cried, looking shocked and confused.

"This boy's father, Hades, is the one who's responsible for Andrew having uncontrollable flames, and he and his siblings _failed to tell us that because they think it's hilarious!"_ Kriss barked, leering at Hadie.

" _What?!"_ Ella cried, her eyes hardening.

"We didn't _know_ it was Andrew! If we'd known, we would've told you! How many times do we have to explain this to you?! And we don't think Andrew's curse is any funnier than you think it is! Uncontrollable flames are terrifying! You know, it's no wonder your mother and aunt is The Snow Queen, your hearts are as cold and hard as an iceberg!" Hadie yelled, his hair and fists on fire.

Everyone gasped, and Hadie covered his mouth and his eyes went wide as his hair and hands extinguished.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-!" Hadie said quickly.

"Get out of here. I don't want to talk to you." Ella said coldly.

"Ella, please, I-!" Hadie begged.

"You can call me Elissa. Now go away!" Elissa sneered.

"But-!" Hadie protested.

"GO!" Elissa said, looking at him as if she wanted to freeze him.

Hadie turned around and walked away slowly, feeling the heat of the AKs stares as he left.

 _I just made everything worse! Hayden was right, I should've just stayed out of the way!_ Hadie thought to himself as he stomped down the hall.

"SHIT!" he yelled, startling everyone around him.

The next he saw Elissa was in his History of Auradon class, where she sat as far away from him as she could, making sure her back was to him the entire time.

In Study Hall, Elissa leered at him the entire bell, making Hadie look away in discomfort and everyone else stare in confusion.

This continued for a week, making them hate each other more and more each day, until one day in History class, where their teacher called everyone's attention to him.

"As I explained at the beginning of the year, you will be doing a midterm and end of term presentations at the end of each semester in lieu of an exam. The time has come for your midterm presentation. You all will get partners-!" the teacher explained.

All the students started shouting to their classmates and forming pairs until the teacher yelled, "Hold on! Everyone, STOP!"

The class fell silent, and the teacher said, "To make sure it's fair for everyone, I've put topics on slips of paper in a hat. There are two slips for each topic in here. I'm going to go around with the hat, and without looking, everyone is going to draw a piece of paper. Whoever gets the same topic you do will be your partner. Any questions?"

Everyone shook their heads, and the teacher stopped by every desk with a top hat full of slips of paper, making sure everyone took one.

"Alright, now, raise your hands if you got the Flood of 1917." The teacher instructed once he got back to his desk.

Ally and Audrey raised their hands, then smiled at each other.

"Raise your hands if you got the settling of Auradon." the teacher said.

Mason and Lonnie raised their hands, and nodded at each other.

"And who got The War of Magic?" The teacher continued.

Hadie and Elissa raised their hands, making them and all of the other students gasp.

"Oh, heck no!" they both cried.

"Can I get a new topic?" Elissa asked.

"Are we allowed to swap partners?" Hadie asked.

"No. You two are going to be partners, and this is your topic. I'm sorry you don't like it, but that's the way it is. Maybe this will be a good opportunity for you two to put your ridiculous feud aside and learn to get along." the teacher said.

Elissa's fists clenched, and a thin layer of frost appeared on her desk as she turned to leer at Hadie.

Hadie glared in return, his hair and fists ignited.

When the bell rang, Hadie stood and walked up to Elissa, still livid.

"Meet me in the library after school," he told her, trying to hide his disgust.

"Why should I?!" Elissa sneered.

"So we can get started on the project, Ice Princess. I'd rather not fail a project that's worth our entire exam grade, even if it means getting stuck with you. What do you think?" Hadie snapped.

"Fine. See you there, Fire Boy." Elissa spat.

 _This,_ Hadie thought to himself as everyone left class, _is going to be the worst project ever._

"Hayden, help me!" Hadie said as he took his seat behind his older brother in Goodness 102 class.

"What happened?" Hayden asked.

"I got stuck working on a project in History of Auradon with _Elissa Arendelle_ of all people! The teacher won't let us change partners, and this worth our exam grade, so we _have_ to complete it! I don't know what to do." Hadie cried.

Hayden winced and said, "Wow. That is some serious bad luck. I don't know what to tell you, Hadie, except try to stick it out until the end, avoid talking to her except for discussing the project, and then hopefully you'll never have to deal with her again."

"Okay." Hadie said glumly.

"Well, look on the bright side, Hadie. Maybe you and Elissa will become friends and you can finally end your family feud." Dizzy suggested.

"Yeah, that'll happen." Hadie mumbled sarcastically under his breath.

Hadie heaved a sigh as he walked into the library, mentally preparing himself for the worst.

He repeated Hayden's advice in his head as he took a seat in one of the chairs in a private meeting room and pulled out his laptop.

Elissa arrived not much later, still glaring at him, her backpack looking stuffed.

Hadie had to remind himself that he hated her as he examined her silver snowflake earrings that she always wore, her teal and white striped shirt, her arctic blue jeans, white boots, silver scarf and navy blue jacket.

"Hey." Hadie said tensely.

"Hi." Elissa responded tepidly.

"Shall we get started?" Hadie asked, gesturing to the seat in front of him.

"Fine. Let's get this over with." Elissa grumbled.

"So, how much do you know about the The War of Magic off the top of your head?" Hadie asked.

"The war lasted from 1582 to 1585. It was fought between those who used good magic and those who wielded dark magic. King Richard Mercia, who was also a powerful wizard, was murdered by a dark knight sent by the evil sorcerer King Jozef Black of the Dark Kingdom. His son, Prince Alexander, declared war on the Dark Kingdom, and in the end, he won because of his cunning, aid from other good magic wielders like fairies, and his own power. King Jozef was executed, his kingdom was destroyed, and Alexander was crowned king." Elissa explained.

Hadie blinked and said, "Well, you practically took the words right out of my mouth. I was about to say the same thing!"

"You like history?" Elissa asked, looking surprised.

"I like reading. I read both fiction and nonfiction." Hadie said, beaming with pride.

"Huh. You didn't strike me as the kind of guy who'd like reading." Elissa said.

"Do you like reading?" Hadie asked.

Elissa smiled and said, "I love it. I read fiction and nonfiction too. I'm a very visual learner, so I learn a lot through reading."

"Cool." Hadie said, beaming.

The two smiled at each other for a few seconds, then simultaneously remembered that they hated each other and scowled again.

"So, how do you want to start on this?" Hadie asked.

"I already created the first slide of a powerpoint, I'll send it to you. We're also going to need more details than that synopsis I gave." Elissa said, frowning as she opened her laptop.

"Sounds good." Hadie said.

Elissa typed some things into her laptop, and just as she was about to say something, her phone went off.

"Master of lying, I'm pulling your rope. Twisting your words and smashing your dreams. Blinded by me, you can't see the hope. Better watch your back you'll be...BLINDSIDED, BLINDSIDED! Fast as lightning, I'm taking control of your mind! BLINDSIDED-!" Her phone sang.

Elissa scrambled to find her phone and reject the call, alarmed at how loud it was.

When she eventually found it and turned it off, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Sorry."

Hadie stared at her in awe and whispered, "You like The Dragon Slayers?"

"Yeah, why?" Elissa asked, confused.

"The Dragon Slayers are my favorite band!" Hadie said excitedly.

"Oh my gosh, same! I love their music. My favorite song by them is Blindsided." Elissa said, beaming.

"Yeah, I could kinda tell by your ringtone." Hadie said jokingly.

Elissa giggled and said, "What's your favorite song by them?"

"Beautiful Tomorrow." Hadie said.

"That one's good, too. I love the line 'Today we're living in shadows, but tomorrow we're gonna burst from the darkness like pieces of the sun!" Elissa sang.

"'Smash through the walls and fight 'till the war is won!" Hadie sang.

"'Pain makes you stronger, sorrow makes you fight harder. I won't be sitting 'round waitin', I'm fighting for my beautiful tomorrow!" Elissa and Hadie sang together.

Hadie and Elissa smiled at each other, feeling a fluttery feeling inside their chests, and their hearts pounding.

Hadie cleared his throat and said, "We should probably get back to work on the project. We've only got a few weeks to complete it."

Hadie and Elissa spent the rest of the afternoon in their private space, mixing working with trying to get to know each other. Elissa, like her mother before her, adored all things chocolate. Hadie had a great sense of humor. Elissa competed in ice dance competitions. Hadie was determined to prove to everyone that he wasn't his father.

But most importantly, they learned that they had more in common than either of them realized. Both Hadie and Elissa were intrigued by magic, had a strong sense of adventure, wanted to travel the world, were compelled to protect others, considered themselves free spirited and rebellious, and wanted to make a difference.

"The library will be closing ten minutes." the librarian announced.

Elissa gasped and said, "My god, how long have we _been here?!"_

Hadie checked the time on his phone and his eyes widened as he said, "4 hours."

" _4 hours?!_ Eli's gonna kill me!" Elissa said hastily, packing up her stuff.

"Yeah, Hayden and Hazel are gonna be kinda mad, too. At least we got a lot of work done." Hadie said, throwing his school items in his backpack.

Elissa and Hadie paused at the door, staring at each other. For some reason, neither of them could bring themselves to hate the other anymore. It was almost as if something new and better and taken its place.

"So, meet here tomorrow, same time? To continue the project?" Hadie asked.

"Yeah. Let's not tell anyone we're getting along, okay? Our families would kill us if they found out. Let's pretend we still hate each other." Elissa said awkwardly.

"Okay." Hadie agreed.

He opened the door, and Elissa snapped, "I can get the door on my own. You don't have to baby me!"

"I was trying to make you feel more at home. Don't servants in your castle do this for you?" Hadie asked sharply, his brain protesting against this charade.

"No. What do you think I am, a spoiled brat? I know how to take care of myself!" Elissa barked.

"Well, 'scuse me for trying to be nice, _ice princess!"_ Hadie snarled.

"Ella?" a voice asked.

Eli walked up to them, scowling at Hadie.

"What are you doing here? Especially with him?" Eli asked, frowning.

"We're stuck working together on our project for our History of Auradon class. We're not allowed to change partners." Elissa said grumpily.

"Is he being unbearable?" Eli asked coldly.

"Very." Elissa lied.

"Oh, _I'm_ the one being unbearable? You kept countering every idea or point I made!" Hadie lied.

" _Enough!"_ the librarian snapped, standing as she slammed her hand on the desk, "The library is meant to be a quiet, peaceful space! If you must fight, do it elsewhere!"

"Fine. Let's go, Ella." Eli said, turning and walking away.

Elissa followed him, looking back at Hadie for a second and giving him a smile and wink, making his heart throb.

"Hey," Hadie said when he caught up with Hayden and Hazel.

"Hey. How was working with the ice princess?" Hayden asked, putting down his medicine book.

Hadie wanted to tell them the truth, but he knew his siblings would never accept what was happening between him and Elissa.

"It was awful. She's like an iceberg-stubborn, hard headed, cold, and frigid. God, I can't wait for this to be over!" Hadie deceived.

"At least it's only for a few weeks." Hazel grunted.

"She's right, Hadie. Just try to stick it out for until presentation time, and then you can go back to avoiding each other, okay?" Hayden suggested.

Hadie nodded and tried not to smile as he thought of Elissa's beautiful snow white hair that laid gracefully over her shoulder, the silver snowflake earrings that she wore that complimented her skin so well, and her beautiful blue eyes.

"Hadie." Elissa said coldly when he met her in the library the next day.

"Hey, Elissa. You ready to work on the project again?" Hadie asked cooly.

"I suppose." Elissa said as she walked towards the private meeting room she and Hadie had taken over.

Hadie followed and closed the door behind him, Elissa's frown instantly vanishing.

"So, I found a book that could help with our project!" Elissa said, digging through her backpack.

Elissa pulled out a hard covered book titled, "The Merging, Life, and Dissolution of the Kingdom of Light."

"It explains how the conflict with the Dark Kingdom began, and goes more into detail about the war." Elissa explained, looking pleased with herself.

"That's awesome! Thanks, Elissa!" Hadie said, smiling at her.

Elissa smiled back and said, "So, how about we read a little about what happened before the war so we can get a better understanding of what caused the feud between the light and dark kingdoms, and then we'll read the chapter about the war and compare notes."

"Sounds good." Hadie said, tearing two pages out of his notebook and giving one to Elissa.

"Thanks, Hadie." Elissa said, taking the sheet of paper.

Hadie grabbed a pencil and set it on the table while he dug through his backpack for his computer, only to have his pencil roll onto the floor.

Hadie and Elissa both reached for it, their hands touching as they grabbed the pencil.

They sat there for a second, staring into each other's eyes, Elissa's hand on top of Hadie's, their faces turning pink.

Hadie didn't know why, but for some reason it felt right to be doing this. Holding Elissa's hand felt natural, soothing even.

Hadie smiled at Elissa, and she smiled back, her eyelids relaxing in a dreamy look.

She then blinked, pulled her hand away, cleared her throat and said, "Project."

"Right," Hadie said, shaking his head and picking his pencil off the floor.

Hadie and Elissa read the chapters and took notes, then added the notes to their powerpoint while chatting with each other to get to know the other more.

"So," Elissa eventually asked hesitantly, "About Andrew's curse… did you really not know?"

Hadie shook his head and explained, "Our dad mentioned to us once when we were younger that one of his minions had managed to curse an unborn child, but he didn't say who. And this happened when the 3 of us were little - I think Hazel was a baby - so it's a distant memory. Hayden and I had almost completely forgotten about it. We would've told you if we'd known."

"So, this whole 'feud' between our families is because of a misunderstanding that's spiraled out of control?" Elissa asked.

"I guess that's one way of putting it." Hadie said unhappily.

Elissa turned to face him and said determinedly, "Then it's time for it to end. I don't want to spend the rest of my life hating someone, especially for something they didn't do. Our family rivalry ends with us."

"With us as what? Friends?" Hadie asked, feeling slightly disappointed.

Elissa winced and said, "That's the thing...I'm not really sure what this relationship between us is. It feels like more than just a friendship, but I don't quite have a name for it, you know?"

"Yeah, I feel the same way." Hadie said, his smile returning.

Elissa's face turned sad, and she said, "I'm sorry my brother and cousins are giving you grief for no good reason. They really aren't like that."

"That's good to hear. I'm sorry my siblings have been mean to you, too. Hayden's been our protector ever since I can remember, and Hazel needs to learn the difference between right and wrong." Hadie said solemnly.

"Family can really suck sometimes." Elissa grunted.

"Yeah." Hadie said unhappily.

"At least we're...good friends, I guess." Elissa said, her smile returning.

Hadie nodded, beaming, and said, "Yeah. I'm glad you're my friend, Elissa."

"I'm glad you're my friend, too. But, you can call me Ella." Elissa said kindly.

"In that case, can I have your number, Ella? So we can talk more?" Hadie asked.

"Sure." Ella said, tearing a corner off the piece of her notebook paper.

She wrote down her number, and gave it to Hadie, who grinned and put it his phone before burning the paper.

"What did you do that for?" Ella asked as Hadie put the ashes in the trash can.

"In case someone finds it and figures out what's happening between us." Hadie explained, walking back to his seat.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then? My family and I were planning on video chatting with our parents at 2:00." Ella explained, rising out of her seat.

"Okay, see you tomorrow." Hadie said, beaming at Ella.

Ella blushed and walked out of the library to the room she shared with Kriss.

After the video chat was finished, Ella walked swiftly to Ruby and Anxelin's dorm, and knocked rapidly, praying they'd be in there.

Ruby poked her head out of the door and said, "Hey, cus! What's up?"

"Can I talk to you and Anxelin privately for a bit?" Ella asked, looking around to make sure no one was watching.

"Uh, sure." Ruby said, opening it fully to let Ella in.

Ella rushed inside while Ruby closed the door behind her and Anxelin looked up from where she was drawing with colored pencils in her sketchbook on her bed.

"Are you okay, Ella?" Anxelin asked, getting to her feet.

Ella shook her head and whined, "I'm so confused! I'm working with Hadie on our project for our History of Auradon exam, and I know our families aren't getting along, but when I'm with him, my face gets hot, my heart starts pounding, and I get butterflies in my stomach! It turns out he's an amazing guy, and I love talking to him. I don't know what's going on our what's wrong with me!"

Anxelin looked both shocked and pleased, her hair beginning to glow, but not as brightly as her sister's.

"Oh! My! GOSH!" Ruby squealed, her hair shining brightly, "You have a crush on Hadie! You two would make such a cute couple!"

"Ruby, be quiet! I don't want anyone overhearing and telling my family! They'd never let me see Hadie again if they knew!" Ella hissed, covering Ruby's mouth with her hand.

"Still, that's great, Ella! But why are you telling us this?" Anxelin asked.

"You guys are my second cousins, so you're the only family I have that doesn't hate the children of Hades or isn't a long way away. I need your advice." Ella confessed.

"Well, I'm happy to give you advice on dating a VK, but I'm not sure about how you're going to pull that off with your family feud going on. Anxelin's usually better at problem solving and easing conflicts than me." Ruby said apologetically.

Ruby and Ella turned to Anxelin, who pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose and put her fingers on her chin, thinking.

"Well, now's obviously not a good time to tell your brother and other cousins about this. Act like you still hate each other in public, but find a way to cleverly nudge your families towards trying to get along, at least. Then when things have finally cooled down, you can tell everyone about you and Hadie. So, I guess what I'm saying is, you should go for Hadie, but be careful." Anxelin advised.

Ella smiled and asked, "Thanks, Anxelin. What are you working on, by the way?"

"Oh, just sketching a bird I saw outside my window this morning." Anxelin said, showing her the drawing.

"That's really good! You should enter it in an art contest!" Ella said eagerly.

Anxelin looked alarmed, and shook her head violently.

"No, no! I couldn't handle all the attention I'd get if I won!" Anxelin cried.

"Sis, we've talked about this! If you're going to be Queen of Corona one day, you're going to have to become comfortable in the spotlight!" Ruby protested.

Anxelin's hair rapidly turned pewter gray as she started shaking and said, "Please don't mention that!"

Ruby's hair grayed a bit as she said, "Sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"Uh, anyway, Ruby. You said you have some advice for dating a VK?" Ella asked.

"Yeah. Well, for starters, be patient. The Isle of the Lost is different from Auradon in a lot of ways, as you probably know, so Hadie might get confused by things that are everyday for you or seem easy to figure out. And also, be supportive. The Isle was traumatizing for the villain kids. Harley sometimes gets nightmares or panic attacks when he has flashbacks about his life on the Isle. Comfort him when he needs it. And most importantly, be accepting and caring. Hadie's experiencing real goodness for the first time. It's a big change from what he's used to. Lend him your ear when he needs it and your shoulder to cry on." Ruby advised.

"Is it worth it, dating a VK?" Ella asked.

Ruby giggled and said, "Absolutely! Ask anyone who's dating a VK, once you help them come out of their shell, VKs are the _perfect_ romantic partner! They're supportive, sweet, protective, loving-!"

Ruby got cut off by a knock at her door and a guy's voice asking, "Ruby? Are you in here?"

Ruby scurried over to the door and opened it, her hair graying a bit when she did.

"Hey, Harley. What happened?" Ruby asked.

"I had a bad day. Can I talk to you about it?" the guy asked.

"Sure." Ruby said, widening the door to let him in.

"Hi, Harley." Anxelin said, smiling kindly as a guy with black hair and dark eyes walked in.

"Hey, Anxelin." Harley said, smiling sadly.

He suddenly did a double take as he looked at Ella, his eyes widening.

"Oh, hi! You're the new girl, right?" Harley asked.

"Yep! Harley, this my second cousin Elissa, daughter of Queen Elsa. Elissa, this my boyfriend, Harley, son of the Queen of Hearts." Ruby explained.

"Pleased to meet you." Harley said, extending his hand.

"You too." Ella said, taking his hand and shaking it.

"So, am I interrupting something?" Harley asked, withdrawing his arm.

"Actually, no. I was just about to leave." Ella said, walking towards the door.

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked.

Ella nodded and said, "Thanks for your help."

"We're always happy to help those in need." Anxelin said while Ruby nodded.

 _I've got to tell Hadie how I feel!_ Ella thought as she closed the door to her cousins' dorm and walked away.

Ella stopped when arrived at the door to Hadie's dorm, confused as to why she heard two voices.

"I'm just saying, maybe if we try to be _nice,_ they'll realize they story they made up about us isn't true and come to their senses. What's that quote Fairy Godmother taught us? 'Kill them with kindness?'" Hadie suggested.

"You want us to try to be _kind_ to the people who make us miserable for something that wasn't our faults?!" the second voice asked incredulously.

"This is all a big misunderstanding, Hayden! Maybe if we treat them with civility, the Arendelle kids will come to their senses!" Hadie begged.

"Yeah, like that'll work. You said it yourself, their hearts are as hard and cold as icebergs! Why do you even want to make amends with them? Doesn't working with Elissa on the project make you miserable?" Hayden spat, and Ella smelled smoke.

"Yes, but you know I've never been the type to hold grudges, Hayden. And to be honest, I think that our families hating each other for things neither of us did is selfish and petty." Hadie countered as the smoke smell grew stronger.

Fearing a fire erupting from Hadie's anger, Ella rapidly knocked on the door.

The smoke alleviated as footsteps were heard on the other side of the door, and it opened.

The boy at the door had Hadie's fair skin and blue eyes, but he was a few inches taller, and his hair was shorter and lighter blue. He had on a white shirt with red shoulders and sleeves, distressed blue jeans, black shoes, and a gray jacket around his waist.

Ella couldn't help but notice that he had dark rings under his eyes and his posture was slumped.

"Who are you?" he asked, examining her from head to toe.

"El-Elissa?" Hadie corrected himself, peeking from behind the taller boy.

The taller boy's gaze turned cold, and he said, "So, you're Elissa Arendelle, my brother's project partner."

"Yeah," Hadie said, awkwardly, "Uh, Elissa, this my big brother, Hayden."

"Hi," Ella said kindly.

"Hi," Hayden said tensely, "Why are you here?"

"Uh, I need to discuss something with Hadie...about the project. Alone." Ella lied.

"Do you mind giving us some privacy, Hayden?" Hadie asked.

Hayden rolled his eyes and huffed but said, "Fine. But only because you're working on a project. Hadie, we'll have to finish our conversation later, _with Hazel."_

"Uh, are you sure that's a good idea? Hazel still calls herself evil." Hadie asked.

"She's still part of the family." Hayden argued.

"Alright. See you later, bro." Hadie said, pulling Hayden into a half hug.

"You too." Hayden said, patting Hadie on the back, giving Ella a distrustful glance, and walking away.

"So, what did you want to say to me?" Hadie mumbled after closing the door behind Hayden.

Ella tried to form words, but her throat felt constricted, and all that came out was choking noises.

"You okay?" Hadie asked, getting closer to her, making Ella blush and her throat constrict more.

Before Ella realized what was happening, she had closed her eyes and crashed her lips against Hadie's, making him grunt in surprise.

Hadie suddenly kissed her back, and wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her to him.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, until Hadie pulled away, looking awestruck.

"Ella…" he whispered.

"Will you be my secret boyfriend?" Ella asked, finally having the courage to speak.

"Yes." Hadie whispered, "But how will we make this work?"

"My second cousins gave me some good advice. We'll be able to make it secret until our families reconcile and we can come out in safety." Ella mumbled.

"Second cousins?" Hadie asked.

"Ruby and Anxelin. Our moms are cousins, so that makes us second cousins." Ella explained.

"Ah. Well, that's good. So, did you actually want to talk about the project?" Hadie asked.

"No, I just wanted to tell you that I really like you. Maybe even love you." Ella murmured.

"And I feel the same way about you." Hadie said, kissing Ella's forehead.

 _A few weeks later…_

"Okay, Ella, you can do this." Ella told herself, pacing around her room.

Today was the day she and Hadie were going present their project to the entire class, and Ella felt terrified.

She and Hadie were going to have to act like they hated each other, but what if they messed up and revealed their secret?

"Ella, what's wrong?" Kriss asked from her bed as she packed up her stuff.

"I have to present my project with Hadie today, and I'm _so nervous!_ This is worth our entire exam grade! What if Hadie or I mess up?" Ella asked, turning to face her cousin.

"Okay, can you calm down a bit? You're freezing the room." Kriss asked.

"Sorry," Ella said, using her powers to remove the frost that was beginning to blanket the room.

"Look, Ella, I'm sure the project will be great. You worked really hard on it, and you love history, so I'm sure you'll be awesome. Provide Hadie doesn't ruin everything, which he better not, I'm sure you'll get an A." Kriss said as she finished packing her bag.

"Thanks, Kriss." Ella said, still not very reassured.

"C'mon," Kriss said, wrapping her arm around Ella, "Let's get some breakfast."

Ella nodded and let her cousin guide her out of the dorm.

While they were walking, Ella's phone went off, and she looked down to discover she'd received a text from Hadie.

 _Project day! You ready,_ he'd asked.

 _NO! I'm freaking out!_ Ella replied with a scared emoji.

 _Why?_ Hadie asked.

 _What if we fail?_ Ella asked.

 _You're kidding, right? After all the hours we put into this project, all the facts we retrieved, and all the chapters and books we had to read, and you think we're going to fail? Our project is amazing!_ Hadie sent.

Ella smiled, and was about to reply, until Hadie sent,

 _I'll make you a deal. If we get an A+ on our project, I choose our first date. If we get an A or an A-, you choose._

Ella laughed out loud and texted, _A+? Don't you think you're getting your hopes a bit too high? XD_

 _Nope. I have a feeling our project is going to be so spectacular, the teacher's going to have to give us an A+. But I'll admit, I've been wrong before. ;)_ Hadie sent.

Ella chuckled and texted, _Alright, deal._

 _See you there. I love you, my ice princess._ Hadie replied.

 _Love you too, Fire Boy._ Ella replied.

"Who are you texting?" Kriss asked, slowing her pace to catch up with her cousin.

"Just a friend." Ella lied, putting her phone away.

"Okay. Cheers to you for sticking it for so long with Hadie. You're strong. I probably would've cracked and left as soon as I could." Kriss said looking at her cousin with respect.

"Yeah, it's been difficult." Ella admitted half truthfully.

"I bet. I mean, look at the Hades kids. They're temperamental, hotheaded, rash, cruel, malicious-!" Kriss complained.

"Don't say those things!" Ella snapped, unable to control herself.

"What? _Why?!"_ Kriss asked, frowning in confusion.

"Because you know that's not how things work in this school. Headmistress Fairy Godmother doesn't approve of students talking badly about each other in any form, and someone could get offended by using such harsh words. You might accidentally offend one of their friends. Plus, our parents taught us to be better than that." Ella explained, her heart racing.

Kriss's frown disappeared, and she looked to the ground in shame.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry. I'm just worried about Andrew." Kriss said sadly.

"All of us are. Maybe someday, we'll find someone who can teach Andrew how to control his powers." Ella said hopefully as they walked into the dining hall.

"Yeah, hope so." Kriss said, as they sat with their cousins.

 _Later…_

"And so, thanks to the help of magicians and the invention of things like sewer systems, flood plains, and building gardens and green roofs, Auradon was able to recover from the flood, and protect themselves in case another massive flood happened." Audrey explained, pointing to the pictures on her powerpoint.

"The sewers also provided a safe way to dispose of waste, dramatically decreasing the amount of serious illnesses every year, and because their was suddenly a lot more gardens everywhere, there was more food and fresher air, which led to the people becoming happier and healthier. So, in a way, the Flood of 1917 did more harm than good." Ally added, switching to the next slide, and then to a slide that said, "The End."

The class applauded politely, and the teacher finished writing something on his paper and said, "Well done to both of you. You both get A's."

Audrey and Ally high-fived and sat back down at their seats.

"Alright, next we have Elissa and Hadie." the teacher said, and Ella felt her heart go into her throat.

Ella stood up, trying to hide her trembling, and walked a few steps before Evie cried, "AH! Ella, you're freezing everything!"

Ella turned to find that ice was spreading across the desks and on the walls, forming sinister jagged spikes.

"Sorry, I'm nervous." Ella apologized, thinking of Hadie to conjure thoughts of love.

The ice lifted off of the desks and walls, condensed into a snowflake shape, and then burst, disappearing from the room.

"You could've let me handle it, you know. I would've had this place cleaned up in a jiffy." Hadie said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, maybe I'd rather not have water everywhere or have the fire alarm go off!" Ella countered, snarling at Hadie.

The rest of the class and the teacher grumbled, rolled their eyes, and shook their heads, making Ella smile internally.

 _It's working! No one suspects anything!_ Ella thought gleefully.

"Hello?! Are you even listening?" Hadie barked, snapping Ella attention back to the room.

"Maybe I'd rather not listen to you if you're going to be mean to me!" Ella argued.

"Stop, both of you! Just get on with your presentation. I'm sorry I paired you two together." the teacher snapped.

Hadie pulled up their presentation, cleared his throat, and began, "To really understand what caused the war, Elissa and I decided to backtrack and figure out what initially caused the war between the light and dark kingdoms. And it turns out, that there's a lot more to it than simply one kingdom using good magic and the other using dark."

Ella and Hadie took turns talking about their research for fifteen minutes, explaining to the class why the Light and Dark kingdoms had grown to hate each other, the assassination that had led to the war, the major battles and turning points, and how the war had eventually come to an end and what happened afterwards to insure peace.

When they finished, the entire class was loudly applauding, and the teacher gave them both a standing ovation.

Hadie and Ella's eyes and mouth widened in happy surprise, making Ella feel tingly all over.

"Outstanding, both of you! In all my years of teaching, that was one of the best presentations that I've ever seen! A+ to you both!" the teacher cried, sitting back down and putting a large A+ on a paper.

"Thank you so much!" Ella and Hadie said together.

"Alright, next pair is Chad and Sam! Tell us about the Animal Rights Accords." the teacher continued as Hadie and Ella took their seats.

 _Meet me in the woods after school. By the creek._ Hadie texted Ella.

 _Okay._ Ella texted back.

 _After school…_

Ella slowly wandered through the forest, in awe of the bright colors coming from the trees and the way the leaves so gently fell to the ground.

"Ella," Hadie called, sitting on a log nearby, facing the creek.

Ella beamed and ran to him, her stomach fluttering with the beautiful kind of butterflies.

Hadie stood and wrapped his arms around Ella the second she ran into his torso.

They kissed until they felt like they couldn't breathe, and then sat on the log together, Hadie's arm around Ella with her head on his shoulder.

"Well, looks like I won the bet." Hadie said, smirking playfully at his girlfriend.

"I guess so. So, what do you want to do for our first date?" Ella asked, beaming up him, her heart speeding up as she stared into those beautiful blue eyes.

"How about a hike through the woods and then a picnic by the enchanted lake?" Hadie suggested.

Ella gave Hadie a peck on the nose and said, "Sounds perfect."

 _Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in ages! I got super busy! I promise I'll try to write more!_


	6. Confusion and Clarity

Chapter 6: Confusion and Clarity

Gold was beginning to get restless. He had stared out the window so many times he could name every part of it from memory, read every book and magazine that the hospital library had, and was getting bored with the shows that the hospital TV had.

It helped that his VK friends stopped by everyday, and Hayden came by every evening to perform some sort of spell on him that instantly made him feel better, but Gold wanted to go to school with them and join in on their adventures.

A knock came on Gold's door, and he answered wearily, "Come in."

"Good morning, Gold!" Dr. Wood said cheerily, walking into the room with Gold's nurse, Judith.

"Morning, Doc." Gold said miserably.

"How are you feeling?" Judith asked, checking Gold's vital organs monitor.

"Physically, fine. Mentally, bored to tears. When to I get out of here?" Gold complained.

"How about today?" Judith asked, beaming at Gold.

Gold's eyes widened in shock, and he mumbled, "You mean it?! Is this a prank?!"

"Not at all, Gold. You're healing in record time, so there's no reason to keep you here anymore." Dr. Wood said, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"Thank you so much!" Gold cried, and then went into a coughing fit.

"Sorry," Gold said when he'd stopped, relieved once again that there was no blood coming out of him.

"It's fine. This is actually why I want to give you some instructions to follow so you can make a full recovery. Judith, will you write this down?" Dr. Wood asked his nurse.

"Sure," Judith said, pulling out a pen and paper.

"First off, remember to take this antibacterial medicine once in the morning and once before bed," Dr. Wood said, placing a bottle of pills in Gold's hand.

"Okay," Gold said, nodding.

"And also, make sure to get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids. Don't take any cough medicine, because that's how your body is trying to fight off the rest of your pneumonia. Remember to cover your mouth when you cough so you don't infect anyone else. And keep eating nutritious food, because you're still underweight and have deficiency in certain vitamin groups." Dr. Wood instructed.

"Got it. Thank you both so much." Gold said, smiling appreciatively at both of them.

"You're very welcome." Dr. Wood said as someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." Dr. Wood called.

"Hi, sorry, am I interrupting anything?" A lady in a light blue dress with brown hair asked.

"Not at all, ma'am. Thank you for coming to get him." Judith said, nodding respectfully at the woman.

"Of course!" the lady chirped.

"I'll be right back," Dr. Wood said, leaving the room.

"Gold Gothel, it's wonderful to finally meet you!" the lady said cheerfully, turning to him.

"Sorry, who are you?" Gold asked.

"Oh, I'm Fairy Godmother! Headmistress of Auradon Prep, the school you'll be attending with your friends." Fairy Godmother explained.

Gold's eyes widened again, and he asked, " _The_ Fairy Godmother?! The one who turned a pumpkin into a coach and Cinderella into a princess so she could go to the ball where she met Prince Charming?"

"That would be me!" Fairy Godmother said happily.

"Wow! It's a pleasure to meet you, too!" Gold said, looking starstruck.

Fairy Godmother cleared her throat and said, "Anyway, I'll give you a minute to get changed and pack up your stuff, and then we can go!"

Gold winced and said, "Um, the thing is, I don't really have anything except the clothes I wore when I got here. I didn't have time to grab anything before Carlos, Jay, Mal, and Ben took me away, and my mother practically disowned me, so I'm probably not going to be able to go get my stuff. Not that I had that much to begin with."

Fairy Godmother's face turned sad, and she said, "Then we'll take you shopping before you go to school."

"Thanks-OW!" Gold yelped as Judith removed the bandage that held his IV in place, and then the IV needle.

"Sorry," Judith apologized, wrapping the wound in gaze as Dr. Wood came in carrying Gold's clothes, looking folded and freshly washed.

"Thanks, Dr. Wood." Gold said, pushing himself off the hospital bed.

Gold took his clothes, wandered into the room's bathroom, changed, and came back out, Fairy Godmother smiling as she waited.

"Take care, Gold." Dr. Wood, extending his arm towards Gold's torso.

"What are you doing?" Gold asked, staring at the doctor's arm.

"You don't know a handshake is?" Judith asked, looking confused.

"I'm from the Isle, remember?" Gold asked.

"Place your hand in his, Gold." Fairy Godmother instructed.

Gold did as she said, and Dr. Wood held it and moved their arms up and down.

"This is a way of saying hello or congratulating someone in Auradon." Dr. Wood explained.

"Oh," Gold said, smiling at Dr. Wood.

"Thank you, Doctor. I will take care of myself." Gold promised.

"And thank you, too, Judith." Gold said, turning to her with his arm extended, and Judith shook it.

"You're very welcome, Gold." Judith said as she pulled her hand away.

"If you're ready, Gold, let's go." Fairy Godmother said, holding the door for him.

"I'm more than ready." Gold said, walking out of the room.

"I'll text your friends and let them know you're coming." Fairy Godmother said, pulling out her phone as she walked next to Gold down the hallways.

"Actually, can you not? I want to surprise them. Assuming that wouldn't be an evil thing do." Gold requested.

"Oh, not at all! I'm sure your friends would love a surprise like that!" Fairy Godmother said, putting her phone back in her purse.

"Ooh, and speaking of friends, that reminds me! I've assigned you to a dorm with Hadie, if that's alright with you." Fairy Godmother explained.

"Yeah, totally! Hadie and I were great friends on the Isle." Gold said, nodding.

"Excellent! But...are you okay? You seem anxious." Fairy Godmother asked as they waited for the elevator.

"I'm worried I won't fit in." Gold admitted.

"Of course you'll fit in! You have a good heart, and so does everyone else at Auradon Prep - well, aside from Harper, Claudine, and Hazel, but they'll come around eventually. And besides, you won't be alone. You'll have the other kids from the Isle there with you to support you whenever you need it." Fairy Godmother reassured him as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

"What about Rapunzel's children? What if they hate me?" Gold asked, walking into the elevator with Fairy Godmother.

"Ruby and Anxelin won't hate you, as long as you're not mean to them. They're both very kind, forgiving, and tolerant girls. In fact, Ruby's even dating a boy from the Isle!" Fairy Godmother said as the elevator descended.

"Really? Who?" Gold asked.

"Harley," Fairy Godmother answered.

"For real? That's awesome! I guess Harley got his princess after all!" Gold said, beaming.

"I guess so," Fairy Godmother giggled as the elevator opened.

Gold followed Fairy Godmother out of the hospital main entrance, shuddering at the cold wind that his too loose clothes were exposing him to.

Gold suddenly stopped, taking in the sights of the city. The buildings rose higher than anything he'd ever seen, so high that he had to tilt his head all the way back to see them all. The air didn't stink or smell of smoke, nothing was broken, filthy, or graffitied, everyone looked happy and walked around casually with their heads up and hands at their sides, and the children were actually playing with toys rather than fighting or trying to steal.

"I'm guessing this is a big change from what you're used to?" Fairy Godmother asked, joining him after she noticed he'd stopped.

Gold nodded, unable to peel his eyes away from everything around him.

"Do you like it?" Fairy Godmother asked.

"It's amazing," Gold agreed, a smile spreading across his face.

"I'm glad. You'll get to see lots of Auradon soon. But first, we need to take you shopping and then to school, okay?" Fairy Godmother said, putting her hand on Gold's back.

Gold jumped and spun around, grabbing Fairy Godmother's wrist, making her yelp in fright.

"Sorry," Gold said sadly, "Isle instincts."

"It's okay. This isn't the first time this has happened. I just keep forgetting that the students from the Isle are rather...reactive." Fairy Godmother said gently.

A car pulled up on the street in front of them, and Fairy Godmother opened the back passenger door and said, "You first, Gold."

"Thanks," Gold said, sliding in and taking a seat.

"Wow, these seats are so soft!" he marveled as Fairy Godmother climbed in next to him.

"They sure are." Fairy Godmother said.

"Jarred, can you take us to Clothing Ultra and then to Old Town School Supplies and Better Home Furniture?" Fairy Godmother asked the driver.

"Sure," the driver said, driving down the road.

Gold gazed out the windows at Auradon City, and said, "I think I'm going to like my new life here."

"I think so, too." Fairy Godmother responded.

 _Later…_

It was around lunchtime when Gold and Fairy Godmother were finished shopping, and the car was driving up the gravel driveway to Auradon Prep, Gold's new school.

Fairy Godmother was going on about all the electives and extracurriculars the school offered, but Gold was only half listening.

He was trying to take in everything around him, from the sound of the tires driving against the gravel to the campus, which was filled with plants Gold had never seen before, and grass so green it almost looked fake.

"Ah, here we are!" Fairy Godmother said as Jarred stopped the car in front of a large gray stone building.

"This is a school?" Gold asked as he exited the car, "It looks like a palace!"

"Well, it was once a castle, but it was abandoned for a few centuries until we all decided to fix it up and turn it into a high school. It's one of the pride and joys of the people living in Auradon City, myself included." Fairy Godmother said wistfully.

"Anyway, Jarred, can you ask the school staff to transport Gold's items to his dorm please?" Fairy Godmother asked the car driver.

"Sure," Jarred said, pulling out a walkie talkie and driving away.

"Come on, let's go surprise your friends!" Fairy Godmother said excitedly, swiftly walking towards the school.

Gold followed her, butterflies in his stomach as she led him up the stairs, down a series of hallways, and through a set of double doors.

"Uh, where are they?" Gold asked, looking around the dining room but seeing no familiar faces.

Fairy Godmother frowned, also searching, until her face lit up, and she pointed, "There! Against the wall with the blue banner with a golden crown on it!"

"Thanks, Fairy Godmother." Gold said, beginning to walk over that way.

Students stared at him as he passed by, looking confused, and the girls strangely looked starstruck.

Gold smiled and waved at them, but kept walking.

The VKs were having lunch at a large round table, talking and laughing while Harper, Claudine, and Hazel sat at a closeby table leering.

Claire suddenly looked up, and her face turned shocked when she saw him, her sandwich falling out of her hands.

" _Gold?!"_ she cried, rising out of her chair.

All the other VKs turned in confusion, their jaws dropping when they saw Gold approaching their table.

"SURPRISE!" Gold cried, beaming from ear to ear.

"GOLD!" The VKs said, rushing to greet him.

Evie made it to him first and pulled him into a huge hug, and then everyone else did the same thing.

"Careful, guys! I don't want you crush me!" Gold said jokingly.

"Students," Fairy Godmother called, noticing everyone was staring at the VKs, "Please give a warm welcome to our newest student, Gold Gothel, son of Mother Gothel."

All of the students started clapping politely, and the VKs released him, looking thrilled.

"Gold, what are you doing here? Are you here for a visit?" Carlos asked.

"Nope, I got released from the hospital this morning." Gold explained.

"What? But Dr. Wood said that you'd have to be hospitalized for six weeks!" Mal said in confusion.

"I went to the hospital nightly and used a spell on him to give him my strength to speed up his recovery time." Hayden explained, Gold wincing at his bloodshot eyes with dark rings under them.

" _What?!_ Hayden, why?" Fran asked.

"He's my friend, I wanted to help him!" Hayden cried.

"But you know you're not supposed to using magic!" Harley protested.

"Which is precisely why I didn't tell anyone." Hayden snapped.

"Well, even if you did break the rules, Hayden, thank you for what you did. Being in the hospital was beginning to drive me insane." Gold said, nodding at him.

"You're welcome." Hayden said, smiling.

"Hey, Gold." a voice behind him said.

Gold turned and Ben was standing behind him, smiling warmly.

"Hey, Ben." Gold said, offering his hand to shake.

Ben took it and shook his hand, saying, "Glad you're here."

"Yeah, me too." Gold said, withdrawing his arm.

"How are you feeling?" Ben asked.

"I-" Gold began.

Gold suddenly went into a coughing fit, making everyone around him back away.

"Sorry," Gold said sheepishly once he'd stopped, "I still have a nasty cough, and feel rather drained, but I'm doing a lot better. I feel less like I'm dying and more like I have a chest cold."

"That's good. I mean, not that you feel like you have a chest cold, but at least you're feeling better." Evie said.

"Yeah. By the way, Hadie, guess what?" Gold asked eagerly.

"What?" Hadie asked.

"I'm going to be your roommate!" Gold said happily.

"Shut up! For real?!" Hadie cried.

"Yep. Fairy Godmother told me so." Gold said, nodding.

"Awesome! I've been _dying_ for a roommate!" Hadie cried, pulling Gold into a half hug.

"Good! I think we'll be good roommates!" Gold said as he and Hadie pulled away.

"Heck yeah we will! This just keeps getting better and better!" Hadie said eagerly.

"Hey, Harper, Claudine, and Hazel!" Gold called.

Claudine sharply turned her head away and Harper stuck her tongue out at him, but Hazel's face turned from rose to bubblegum pink as she let out a weird screeching noise and ran towards him.

"Hi!" she squealed, giving him a huge hug, "Thank God you're better, I was so worried!"

"You...were?" Gold asked, confused.

Hazel suddenly tensed and pulled away from him, looking bewildered.

She stared at Gold, then at her feet, then at Gold again, and ran off without saying a word.

"What was that about?" Gold asked.

"Did Hazel just have her breakthrough?" Jay asked, looking excited.

"I'd say so!" Claire said, beaming.

"What's a breakthrough?" Gold asked his friends.

"It's when an evil VK shows signs of goodness, that Auradon is getting to them and changing them for the better. It's the first step for an evil VK towards becoming good." Carlos explained.

" _I_ managed to do that to her?" Gold asked. '

"Yep. Love is more powerful than our parents ever told us, Gold. It's what inspired Claire, Mal, and I to become good." Harley said proudly.

"What about the rest of you?" Gold asked.

"We found something we were passionate about that made us want to stay so we could continue doing it." Evie explained.

"Like what?" Gold asked.

"Outdoors Club and tourney," Claire said, raising her hand.

"Sports." Jay admitted.

"Baking." Fran said, smiling.

"Medicine." Hayden said.

"My dog." Carlos said.

"Music." Freddie admitted.

"Love of learning." Evie said.

"Baseball and Mock Trial team." Harley said.

"Wow, this place really does have a lot! I wonder what'll make Hazel become good?" Gold wondered.

Hazel ran into the nearest girls bathroom, looked in the mirror at her embarrassingly pink face, and began pounding at her cheeks to try to get them to stop.

"Get! It! Together!" she scolded herself, "This isn't what dad wants from you! Prove you're evil, and you get to go home!"

 _That's home? That miserable, dirty, stinky, run-down prison island? Wouldn't I rather be here, where I can be free and not have to worry about Dad burning me if I mess up?_ The unfamiliar part of Hazel's brain challenged.

 _Once I prove my worth as a villain, he'll stop hurting me. Someone's got to inherit the underworld now that Hayden and Hadie have abandoned ship._ Hazel countered.

 _That's not how villains work. They stop at nothing to hurt others, even if they're fellow villains or their own children. Is that who you want to become?_ Hazel's mind responded.

 _It doesn't matter. It's what Dad wants me to become. I don't want to let him down._ Hazel argued.

 _I'm not my father, though, am I? I'm my own person. I shouldn't let my dad's choices define me. Hayden and Hadie have figured out who they are. Maybe if I stay, I'll finally learn what it means to be me._ Hazel's brain said.

 _I know who I am!_ Hazel screamed.

 _Do I? If Dad let me decide what I wanted to do with my life, what would it be?_ Hazel's mind challenged.

Hazel was silent at that, not sure how to respond.

 _Maybe it would be becoming Gold's girlfriend and practicing magic. That would be cool._ Hazel's brain suggested.

"Hazel?" a voice behind her asked, startling her back to reality.

Hazel spun around and tried to land a right hook to the person's face, only for it to be stopped by Mal catching her fist.

"You have a strong punching arm" Mal noted, looking at Hazel's fist.

"What do you want, Mal?" Hazel snapped, yanking her arm away.

"To help you." Mal replied, sitting on the granite sink counter.

"What makes you think I need help?" Hazel growled.

"You're in the girls bathroom alone, crying. In Auradon and on the Isle, that means something's wrong." Mal explained, crossing her arms and leaning back against the mirror.

Hazel opened her mouth to try to counter Mal, but couldn't come up with anything, so she closed her mouth and stared at the bathroom floor tiles.

"Hazel, I get what you're feeling. You feel lost and confused because your mind and heart don't know what they want anymore, and you're challenging everything because you thought you wanted to be evil but now you're not sure. All of us who came from the Isle and started out evil were there once. It doesn't have to be so confusing. You just need to listen to what your heart says and not your dad and his beliefs." Mal said gently.

"You don't know a _thing!_ Your mother isn't a god who burns you if you make a mistake and threatens to kill you and your brothers!" Hazel yelled.

"No, but she _is_ the most powerful evil sorceress to ever live, and is basically Queen of the Isle. And I got abused too, Hazel. My mom hit me with her scepter and kicked me, and if I cried, she'd slap me until I stopped. And she also gave me really terrifying threats. But we're not them, we're _us,_ which means we're free to choose. You don't want to be like them, do you?" Mal asked.

"I...I don't know what I want anymore." Hazel sobbed.

"Well that's why you have your brothers. You can turn to them for support whenever you need them, as well as everyone else in our group, including me. I want to help you, Hazel." Mal said soothingly, getting off the counter and putting her hand on Hazel's shoulder.

Hazel flinched, but didn't remove Mal's hand, and asked, "Why do you want to help me? You _hated me_ on the Isle. What's in it for you?"

"I'm not the girl I used to be, Hazel. I want to become your friend, maybe even your best friend. I want to help you because I look at you and I can't help but see who I used to be. And I...I wish someone had been there to help me. So, that's what I'm trying to do for you." Mal said, brushing a lock of hair out of Hazel's face.

"But...but Dad said if I prove that I'm evil, I get to go home!" Hazel sobbed, tears running down her face.

"Why do you want to go back to the Isle?" Mal asked, frowning.

"Because it's the only place where I fit in! I feel like I don't belong here. Everyone looks at me like I'm a magical time bomb that's going to blow any second and start destroying everything and cursing everyone. Not to mention, I don't stand a chance with Gold!" Hazel heaved.

" _What?!_ Why do you think that?!" Mal asked, frowning in confusion.

"I'm a _freak,_ Mal! My hair is _indigo,_ I'm a terrifyingly powerful magician, everyone hates me, is scared of me, or both, I have trouble controlling my powers when I'm upset, and I'll never be one of those super girly, pretty, popular AK girls! Not to mention, who would want the daughter of death itself?!" Hazel cried, her irises glowing purple as tears ran down her face.

The room suddenly shook violently, making Mal fall to her feet, items fly off the counter, a table with a flower vase tip over, spilling soil, water, and the plant of the floor, and breaking the window and mirror.

Hazel gasped, her eyes returning to their normal aquamarine, and the room stopping its shaking.

"I'm so sorry, are you okay?! I mean, that's what you get for-, I mean, you...you…! BAH!" Hazel cried, slamming her fist into the wall.

"What in Auradon is-?!" Fairy Godmother asked, running into the girl's restroom, and then gasping when she saw what had happened.

"Hazel, what did you _do?!"_ Fairy Godmother cried, looking around while Audrey, Ally, Jordan, and Jane came in, looking horrified.

"Hazel, did you just trash this place?!" Audrey asked, making Hazel shake violently.

"And attack Mal?! Why is she on the floor?" Ally asked.

"I knew it. She's rotten to the core!" Jordan snapped.

Hazel sat down on the floor, pulled her legs to her face, and began sobbing in them.

"Hazel, I am assigning you a-!" Fairy Godmother ordered.

"YOU'RE NOT DOING _ANYTHING!"_ Mal yelled.

Hazel looked up, and her irises were glowing sinister green, her hands were lit with green fire, and she was sneering viciously at Fairy Godmother and the girls, who backed up in fright.

"She did nothing wrong! Hazel's confused because she doesn't know who she is, who she wants to be, or where she belongs. And she's upset because you all haven't made her feel welcome, and instead you've been treating her like an outsider who'll destroy everything in her path. Hazel told me she feels like a freak, and that she's basically _inferior to you!_ I was trying to talk to her, but the hate and intolerance you've been giving her has nearly driven her to the point of hysteria, and she _accidentally_ released a spell! And now look at what you've done to Hazel! She's on the floor sobbing, shaking, and hyperventilating, and you all have the nerve to accuse her of something she didn't do! You say you're tolerant of VKs, and yet this is what you do to someone who happens to be a bit different! You all should be ashamed of yourselves! This is _not_ what Auradon is about! Hazel's already had enough hate on the Isle without you all giving her more!" Mal cried.

Fairy Godmother, Audrey, Jordan, Ally, and Jane stared at the ground, looking ashamed.

Mal's irises turned to normal, and her magic went out as she turned to Hazel and kneeled in front of her.

"C'mon," Mal said gently, "Let's go talk somewhere private."

Hazel nodded and let Mal pull her to her feet, then put her arm around Hazel's shoulders and lead her out of the bathroom.

When Mal opened the door, there was a crowd of AKs and VKs standing outside, most of the AKs looking apologetic, a few who supported the VKs unconditionally like Ben and Lonnie looked sad, and the VKs looked worried.

"HAZEL!" Hayden and Hadie cried, running to their sister.

Hazel let out a choked sob and ran into Hayden's chest, sobbing into Hayden's shirt.

Hayden sighed in relief and sadness, and hugged his little sister, while Hadie held both of them.

"Thank you, Mal." Hadie said appreciatively while Hayden tried to coax Hazel.

"You're welcome." Mal said, nodding.

Fairy Godmother, Jane, Audrey, Ally, and Jordan walked out of the bathroom looking glum, and looked away when the VKs leered at them.

"You all better apologize to Hazel!" Jay snapped, looking at all the AKs.

"Not just to her." Harper said from the back, her fists clenched and shaking.

"She's not the only one who's been feeling...unwelcome and...unloved." Claudine explained, her voice shaking on the last word, a tear falling down her face.

Harley and Fran rushed to hold their sisters, Harley ruffling Harper's hair while Fran rubbed Claudine's back.

"We're sorry," All of the AKs said together.

"And I'm also sorry. I should know behave better towards my students and not make assumptions." Fairy Godmother said sadly.

"Thank you." Hazel sobbed.

"Thanks." Harper and Claudine said together, still holding onto their siblings.

"Can we go talk somewhere private?" Hazel asked shakily.

"Of course." Evie said, smiling gently.

"I know the perfect spot in the woods for this! Follow me, guys." Claire said, gesturing as she walked away.

Everyone followed her into the woods until she stopped in a clearing with a bunch of fallen tree logs.

The VKs sat down on the logs, and Evie cleared her throat and said, "Hazel, Harper, Claudine, we're sorry you all have been treated so unfairly."

"You all said that this was supposed to be a _good place,_ a place where we wouldn't be judged or hated and could finally be ourselves." Hazel said angrily through her sobs.

"And it is. It's just...well…" Fran said, struggling to find the right words.

"Some of the AKs are still biased or hold grudges. They were taught by their teachers and parents the evil things our parents did, and to fear and hate them because of it, so we arrived, they started taking their feelings out on us because we're their kids. We're working on teaching them that villain kids aren't automatically like their parents, and a few like Ben, Lonnie, and Ruby have caught on quickly, but almost everyone else needs help learning differently from what they grew up knowing." Harley explained, still holding onto Harper.

"So, they were taught to hate us as much as we hated them? Isn't hate against the beliefs of Auradon?" Claudine asked.

"Well yes, except for evil. Everyone in Auradon is taught to hate evil, but are encouraged to love in all other aspects." Carlos explained.

"What about Chad, then?" Hadie asked.

All the VKs except Clay, Harper, Hazel, Claudine, and Hadie started grumbling, rolling their eyes, or shaking their heads at the mention of his name.

"Chad's a...special case. He's a spoiled prince who for reason had decided that he hates us all. Nothing we ever do impresses him or convinces him to put his pride aside and accept us. So, don't waste your time worrying about him liking you. It's not worth it." Mal explained icily.

"What about the kids of our parents enemies?" Gold asked, looking anxious.

"It really varies from person to person. Some people, like Rapunzel's daughters Ruby and Anxelin, will accept you regardless of who you are, but for others, it may take time fear and prejudice aside and realize that you're not your parent." Harley explained.

"But I'm sure now that everyone knows how you're feeling, things will get better. People will probably start being more accepting, and Fairy Godmother will be kinder. After all, the AKs aren't cold and cruel, they just need to erase what they were taught about us from their minds." Fran said gently, putting an arm around Claudine, who looked like she was fighting to hold back tears.

"And you'll always have us to turn to if all else fails." Jay said.

"Our motto is one family forever." Dizzy pointed out.

Hazel dried her eyes, a smile appearing on her face and said, "Thanks. I'm-I'm sorry about what happened in the bathroom."

"It's fine. EMDs used to happen to me all the time. I can teach you to control it." Mal offered.

"What are EMDs?" Hadie asked.

"Emotional Magic Discharges. It's like what happened with Hazel when we were talking in the bathroom-you accidentally release a spell due to a strong surge of emotion like stress or pain." Mal explained.

"I'd like for you to teach me how to control it." Hazel said.

"Alright, I will." Mal said, smiling in appreciation.

"Is everyone okay to go back inside?" Harley asked, standing from his log.

Everyone agreed, and Mal turned to Hazel and said, "By the way, how are things with you and Lucille?"

Hazel stared at the ground and said, "Not good. We haven't spoken to each other that fight on our first day."

"Well, I think you should give it another shot. Lucille seems like a nice girl. I think you two would get along well once you really open up to each other." Hayden suggested.

Hazel looked up at him and asked, "You think she'll be willing to give me another chance?"

"There's only one way to find out." Hadie said.

Hazel's heart pounded against her chest, her palms sweaty and stomach tense as she stood in front of her dorm door, working up the nerve to talk to Lucille.

 _You want to find out who you really are. This is a good first step._ Hazel told herself, steeling her nerve.

She lightly knocked on the door, saying a silent prayer that Lucille would be there.

"Come in!" Lucille's cheerful, French accented voice chirped.

Hazel opened the door, and cautiously stepped inside.

Lucille was sitting on her bed reading a French book, but put it down momentarily to look up and smile, only to see that it was Hazel, scowl, and return to her book.

Hazel took a deep breath and walked to Lucille's bedside.

" _What do you want, Hallie?!"_ Lucille snapped, slamming her book closed.

"It's Hazel. And...I wanted to say I'm sorry." Hazel said, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

Lucille's scowl changed into a look of confusion.

"Wh-what?" she asked.

"I'm sorry for how horrible I've been. I've recently discovered that without acting all tough and evil and trying to follow in my dad's footsteps, I don't know who I am. For the first time, I feel...uncertain. I'm lost and confused. I want to have a purpose, and feel like I belong, but I don't know how or what I'm destined to be. I never thought I'd say this but...I'm scared!" Hazel stumbled, bursting into tears at the last word.

Lucille stood up from her bed, and to Hazel's surprise, hugged her.

"I forgive you. I'm sorry you feel this way, but I'm glad you're being open with me." Lucille said gently.

"You...forgive me? Why?" Hazel asked, pulling away from Lucille.

"Because," Lucille said, guiding Hazel to sit on her bed and handing her a tissue box, "My parents taught me to give second chances, and I want to build a better relationship with you."

"Th-thank you." Hazel sobbed, drying her eyes and blowing her nose.

Lucille sat on the bed next to her, and asked, "I heard about what happened in the bathroom. Why didn't you tell anyone how you were feeling?"

"We were taught on the Isle not to show weakness or ask for help, unless we had minions." Hazel explained sadly.

"But Auradon isn't the Isle, Hazel! You're allowed to express your emotions here and get help when you need it. In fact, asking for help in times of personal crisis is seen as a sign of strength here. It means you care enough about yourself to realize that you can't continue on without support." Lucille explained.

"Will you help me figure out who I am, then?" Hazel asked meekly.

"Of course. You have other people supporting you too, right?" Lucille asked.

"Yeah. My brothers, Mal, and the rest of the VKs living here. We're like a large family of brothers and sisters." Hazel said, smiling fondly.

"That's good to hear." Lucille said, beaming.

"Do you have any ideas for how to find myself, Lucille?" Hazel asked.

"Probably the best way is to find what interests you. Do you have any ideas of what you might enjoy?" Lucille asked.

"Well, um, there is someone I like." Hazel said, feeling her face flush.

"Who?" Lucille asked eagerly.

"Gold." Hazel said quietly, staring at the ground while smiling.

"That new kid from the Isle? Mother Gothel's son?" Lucille asked.

"Yeah." Hazel said, turning back to her roommate.

Lucille giggled and said, "Well, you sure have a good taste in men. Gold's pretty handsome, even if he is scarily thin, and he seems like a really nice boy."

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea, though." Hazel said sadly.

" _What?!_ Why?!" Lucille asked.

"What if he doesn't want me because of how freaky I am? I mean, I look unusual, I have an insane amount of magic, and my father is the god of death!" Hazel pouted.

"Well, I don't think you're a freak. I think you're awesome. I think your looks are cool, your magic's extraordinary, and it doesn't matter who your father is, you're not him, you're _you!_ And you're not the only one with unusual looks - there's your brothers, Mal, and Evie! You have friends who see how phenomenal you are, and that's bound to attract someone like Gold to you. And if he doesn't see what an amazing person you are, he's an idiot!" Lucille said, putting her hand on Hazel's shoulder.

"You think he'll see all that in me?" Hazel asked.

"Well, he's not blind, is he? If I can see it, so can everyone else." Lucille said kindly.

"But you'll have to find other things that you enjoy, too. You can't just rely on a man to make you feel complete, no matter how great that man may be." she continued.

Hazel nodded and said, "Thanks, Lucille."

"Ah, you're saying my name wrong." Lucille said.

"I am?" Hazel asked.

Lucille nodded and said, "It's pronounced the French way, loo-SEE-el, not the English loo-SEEL."

"Oh, sorry." Hazel apologized.

"It's okay, Hazel." Lucille said.

"You got my name right!" Hazel said, pulling Lucille into a hug.

She gasped, hugged Hazel back and said, "You're right, I did!"

"So, now that we're friends and you've told me your big secret, can I tell you mine?" Lucille asked.

"Uh, sure." Hazel said.

Lucille pulled away, stuck her pinkie finger at Hazel and said, "Swear you won't tell a soul?"

"Why are you pointing your finger at me?" Hazel asked.

"I'm asking you to pinkie promise. It's a way of guaranteeing your promise to someone. No backing out once you do it. Do you accept?" Lucille asked.

Hazel nodded, and Lucille said, "Then hook your pinkie around mine."

Hazel did as she was told, and Lucille pulled her hand away, leaned in close, and whispered into Hazel's ear.

Hazel gasped and her eyes went wide as Lucille told her her secret, and then stared in shock as she pulled back.

"Are...are you joking?" Hazel asked in disbelief.

"Not at all." Lucille said, shaking her head.

"Oh my god. Does Ben know?" Hazel asked.

"No. Up until now, no one else knew but my father, Queen Belle, King Beast, and me. You're the first person I've told about this. Not even Sam, Connor, and Chelsea know." Lucille explained quietly.

"Why haven't you told anyone else?" Hazel asked.

"My mother made me swear to secrecy. But I trust you." Lucille said.

" _Wow._ Does that you're technically a princess?" Hazel asked in a hushed voice.

"Yes, but don't start treating me like one, or people will wonder what's up." Lucille warned.

"Hey, I promised I'd keep your secret! I meant it!" Hazel protested.

"Thank you, Hazel. You're a good friend." Lucille said, smiling from ear to ear.

"You're welcome. So, anyway-" Hazel said.

The girls chatted back and forth for hours afterwards, until it was time for dinner, and then for hours afterwards until it was time for bed, feeling completely at ease with each other for the first time.


	7. New Love

Chapter 7- New Love

Hayden was sitting in his dorm room at his desk, taking notes from a book about sports injuries and how to treat them that he'd borrowed from the school library.

He was in the middle of a chapter about recognizing the symptoms of concussions and the proper procedure for how to help until EMS arrived when Harley came in.

"Hey, Hayden! Thought you'd be in here. You have a second to talk?" he asked.

"Yeah, what's up?" Hayden asked, turning his swivel chair to face Harley as he sat on his bed.

"Mason and I are going out to dinner and ice cream with Ruby and Claire tonight." Harley said, crossing one of his legs.

"Okay. And?" Hayden asked.

"And we want you to come with us!" Harley finished.

Hayden winced and said, "Uh, won't that be awkward? Kind of a fifth wheel kind of situation?"

"Nope, because _you're_ going to be on a blind date with us!" Harley said excitedly.

Hayden's eyes widened and jaw dropped in disbelief, and then he snapped his mouth shut and clenched his fists in anger.

" _What?!_ You set me up on a blind date without my permission?!" Hayden yelled, quickly standing from his chair, his hair and fists slightly on fire.

Harley raised his hands in self defense and said, "I was just trying to help! I don't want to see you unhappy anymore! You need to move on from Mal, and finding a girlfriend is the best way to do it!"

"You thought it would be a good idea to set me up on a date with someone I don't know?" Hayden asked incredulously.

"Well, actually, you do know her. You just don't realize how much you two have in common!" Harley explained.

The flames in Hayden's hair and hands died a bit as he asked, "Who is she?"

Harley smirked as he put his arms down and said, "Can't tell you. That's why it's a blind date. If you want to find out, you'll have to come with us. But she does care about you a lot. I personally think you'd be a great couple."

Hayden's flames completely went out as his brow furrowed in thought.

"You think this girl will be a good match for me? And she'll help me move on?" Hayden asked after a pause.

"I wouldn't be putting you up to this if I didn't think this would good for you. You know I'd never do anything to hurt you." Harley said gently.

Hayden thought a bit more, and then huffed and said, "Fine, I'll do it. But you and Mason better not do anything to embarrass me."

"Promise. I'm really glad you're doing this." Harley said, beaming.

Hayden grunted and said, "I just hope I don't live to regret it."

"Hey Fran!" Claire said as she walked into their dorm.

Fran looked up from the book she was reading in her bed and said, "Hey Claire."

"So, I need to talk to you about something." Claire said, sitting on Fran's bed.

"Okay?" Fran asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"Ruby and I are going out with our boyfriends tonight, and we want you to come with us because you'll be on a blind date!" Claire said excitedly.

Fran looked shocked for a second, and then leered at Claire.

"You set me up on a blind date without telling me?!" Fran cried, looking furious.

"Yeah?" Claire said weakly.

"Why would you do that?" Fran snapped.

"W-well," Claire said, clearly flustered, "I was hoping to finally help you out of your depressive state. You know, find someone to be in love with so you can be happy again."

Fran's snarl faded, but she still looked mildly ticked off as she said, "You realize that you can't rely on other people to make you feel complete, right?"

"I know, it's just that not being in a relationship with someone was what was making you upset, so I thought this would be the best way to fix it." Claire explained.

Fran suddenly looked nervous as she asked, "Who did you set me up with? Do I know him at all?"

"You sure do." Claire said with a nod.

"Who is he?" Fran asked.

"Can't tell. It is called a _blind_ date." Claire said mischievously, putting a finger up to her lips.

"You really think this will work?" Fran asked, her fists clenched in anxiety.

"I'm positive." Claire said, putting her hand on Fran's.

"I'll...I'll give it a try, then." Fran said, still nervous.

"Great! I promise it'll be worth your while." Claire said, giving her friend a hug.

"Okay," Fran said, hugging Claire back.

"Um, I should probably get to work on my homework now." Fran said, pulling out of her friend's grasp.

"Okay, I'll be in the library if you need me." Claire said, climbing off of Fran's bed and walking out the door.

Her phone suddenly dinged and Claire pulled it out, the screen displaying a text from Harley.

 _Hayden's agreed to come. Are we all good for Fran?_ The message read.

 _Yep! She's pretty nervous, though. And got rather mad that we set this up without telling her._ Claire replied.

 _Yeah, Hayden got kinda mad too. Just another thing they have in common, I guess. Lol._ Harley sent.

 _Later…_

"Uh, what exactly am I supposed to wear for a date?" Hayden asked, standing in front of his open closet.

"Well, I read somewhere that on dates, girls like it when guys wear button up shirts and dark jeans but don't really care what shoes you wear as long as it's not those five finger shoes, so I'd opt for something nice looking, but don't overdo it." Harley said, selecting a red button up shirt from his closet.

"What about my hair? And cologne?" Hayden asked, turning to the mirror on the inside closet door.

"Just style your hair how you normally do it. And guys don't really wear cologne on dates." Harley advised.

"Okay," Hayden said, grabbing some clothes and walking into the bathroom.

He put on a light blue casual quarter-sleeve shirt, a nice pair of navy blue jeans, and black high tops that went up to his ankles and ran a comb through his hair, trying to breathe deeply.

"How do I look?" Hayden asked Harley while stepping out of the bathroom.

"You look awesome! She'll love it!" Harley said, beaming in a red polo shirt, black jeans, and brown dressy boots.

Harley face fell as he noticed the expression on Hayden's face and the fact that Hayden's hands were shaking.

"Bro, relax." Harley said, walking up to Hayden and putting his hands on Hayden's shoulders, "Things will work out, I promise. I wouldn't be asking you to do this if I thought this was a bad idea."

Hayden nodded as a knock came from the door.

"You guys ready?" Mason asked from behind the door.

"Yep," Harley walking up to the door and opening it.

Mason was in a nice dark green T-shirt with a brown leather jacket over it, blue jeans, and sneakers.

His phone suddenly made a sound like an arrow hitting a target, and he pulled it out and stared at the screen, then rolled his eyes while still smiling.

"Claire says to go on ahead and leave. Ruby and F- I mean Hayden's date- are running a bit behind. The girls will meet us there." Mason said, putting his phone in his jacket pocket.

Harley snorted and shook his head while grinning and said, "Yeah, that sounds like them."

"So, what restaurant are we going to?" Hayden asked as he, Harley, and Mason started walking.

"Trevisani's. It's an Italian restaurant nearby that's known for their pizzas and pasta dishes. You like Italian, right?" Mason asked.

Hayden nodded, and Harley said, "See, that's already something you have in common with your date! You both love Italian food."

 _At the same time…_

Fran was sitting on the edge of her bed, her hand in her hands, trying to get her breath under control. It had been a long time since she'd felt fear. Her body wasn't used to it. And she didn't how to handle it the good way.

"Fran, relax. Everything's going to be fine. You and your date are going to have a great time!" Claire said, sitting down on the bed next to Fran.

"How do you know?" Fran asked, her voice quivering with anxiety.

"Because we've set you up on a blind date with someone you already know! It's not like you're going to be meeting a complete stranger. And you won't be alone-Ruby, Harley, Mason and I will be there if you need any help. You'll be fine, I promise." Claire said, pulling her friend into a half hug.

Fran took a deep breath and said, "So, what should I wear?"

Claire winced and said, "Well, if you were more tomboyish, I could give you an answer, but you're pretty feminine, so I don't know."

There was a sudden knock on the door, and Claire called, "Come in!"

Ruby stepped in wearing a nice looking purple camisole with ruffles, a skirt with mini lilac flowers printed on, black knee high boots, a knit violet cardigan, and a golden sun hair clip, beaming and her hair shining.

"Hey, I just thought I'd come by and see if you need anything." Ruby said.

"Actually, I do need something. I don't know what to wear!" Fran cried.

"Well, let's take a look at your wardrobe." Ruby said, opening Fran's closet doors.

"No, no, no, no…" Ruby mumbled as she shuffled through the clothes hanging in Fran's closet.

"Ooh!" Ruby squealed, pulling out a shiny silk plum tube top, a sparkly black skirt and mauve cardigan.

"Perfect!" Ruby said, handing it to Fran.

"And these red ankle cut boots would good great with it!" She said, placing the boots in front of Fran.

"Wow, thanks Ruby!" Fran said, smiling.

Ruby nodded and said, "Go change in the bathroom, and then we'll see what jewelry looks good with it."

Fran nodded and went into the bathroom while Claire said, "I'll text Mason and let him know to go ahead and get our table."

"Good idea. It wouldn't be fair to make them stand around waiting for us." Ruby replied.

"So, how do I look?" Fran said, stepping out of the bathroom a little while later.

Claire looked up from her phone and Ruby turned away from Fran's jewelry box and beamed.

"You look _fantastic!_ H-I mean, your date's jaw is gonna hit the floor when he sees you!" Ruby said giddily.

"Thanks." Fran said, giving a sheepish smile.

"Now, what to do for accessories…" Ruby mumbled, turning back to the jewelry box.

"Can I choose my accessories?" Fran asked, joining Ruby on the vanity where her jewelry box was.

"Oh, sure!" Ruby said, stepping away.

"Thanks." Fran said, examining what she had.

Fran selected a pair of small gold earrings and gilded ring with a fake red jewel to wear on her right ring finger, and applied mascara and glittery eyeshadow.

"Okay, I'm ready." Fran said nervously.

"Fran," Ruby said, hearing the nerves in her voice, "It's going to be okay, promise. We wouldn't be asking you to do this if we didn't think it would help you."

Fran swallowed the lump in her throat, took a deep breath, and nodded.

"Let's go." she said.

"Do girls _really_ take this long to get dressed? We've been waiting here for ages!" Hayden grumbled.

"We've only been here for 10 minutes, mate. And it only took 5 minutes to walk here." Mason said, checking the time on his phone.

"I'm sure they'll be here soon, Hayden. It's not like they're getting dressed for a ball." Harley said, biting into his third breadstick.

"Mason!" a voice called.

Claire and Ruby walked up to their table, looking nice and grinning from ear to ear.

Mason and Harley stood and embraced their girlfriends, while a third girl, looking more timid, approached behind them.

Hayden's jaw dropped and his eyes widened when he saw her.

" _Fran?!"_ Hayden exclaimed, staring at her.

Fran met his gaze, she suddenly shocked as well while her cheeks turned light pink.

"Oh, hey Hayden." Fran said, suddenly looking bashful.

"Surprise!" Ruby said gleefully, sitting down as Harley pulled her chair out for her.

Hayden awkwardly did the same for Fran, who gave him a warm but awkward smile and sat, smoothing out her skirt.

The guys sat across their respective dates and Hayden stared at his hands while Fran started messing with her hair.

Harley nudged him and whispered, "Say something to her!"

"Like what?" Hayden asked.

"I don't know! But you guys are making this _way_ more awkward than it has to be!" Harley whispered.

Hayden turned to Fran, cleared his throat and said, "Uh...so...how's school going?"

"Good." Fran said kindly, forcing a smile.

Ruby's hair started graying, and Harley, Claire and Mason were cringing, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife.

Claire's phone suddenly buzzed, and she grinned and said, "Oh yeah! The season premiere of Arthur is airing tonight!"

"Sweet!" Mason said.

"You guys like that show right?" Claire asked everyone else.

"Eh." Hayden said, shrugging.

"Not really." Fran said.

"I prefer crime mystery shows, medical dramas and comedy shows." they said together.

Hayden and Fran suddenly stared at each other, startled.

"You like crime mystery shows and medical dramas? You never really seemed to me like the kind of girl that'd enjoy that." Hayden said.

"Yeah, I didn't really think I'd like it either. But I saw an episode of Bloodhound on TV once and now I can't stop binge watching it." Fran explained.

"Same! What's your favorite episode so far?" Hayden asked.

"Pretty much any episode where they're trying to take down a major crime boss. Rafael was my favorite. He just has such a compelling backstory and he's just a fascinating villain. I hope we see him again." Fran said eagerly.

"Well, something about the ending of the last episode he was in told me we haven't seen the last of him. Rafael's crafty, I'm sure he'll find a way to escape prison." Hayden said.

"True." Fran said with a nod, "What medical dramas to you watch?"

"My favorite's Grey Apron." Hayden said.

"Same! Did you see the episode where Dr. Wentworth _destroyed_ those anti vax parents?" Fran giggled.

Hayden laughed out loud and said, "Yeah, that had me in tears! I love Dr. Wentworth, he takes crap from _no one,_ and he's like a master of insults!"

"Totally!" Fran said with a laugh.

"Claire, you are a freaking _genius!"_ Mason whispered, staring with Claire, Ruby and Harley in awe how quickly the mood had changed and how well Fran and Hayden were hitting it off.

The six friends went on to continue the discussion of their favorite shows, share silly stories from school and when they were younger, the things on their bucket lists, the scariest things they ever did, and where they want to travel to.

By the time their food arrived, Fran was staring at Hayden with a lovestruck expression on her face and Hayden was grinning from ear to ear, the tension completely evaporated.

Hayden and Fran reached for a slice of the pizza they were sharing, their hands accidentally colliding.

They both retracted their arms, Fran's face turning pink, and looked a little sheepish.

"Sorry, you can have the first slice." Hayden said, gesturing at the pizza.

Fran shook her head and said, "You reached for it first. It's yours."

"No, please. I insist." Hayden said kindly.

Fran smiled as she reached for a slice and said, "You're so sweet. No wonder I fell for you."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that. Harley told me you already had feelings for me. How long has that been going on?" Hayden asked as he took a slice.

"Oh well...uh…" Fran stumbled, her face turning rose pink, "For a few months actually. When we were on that mission for our parents, I admired how brave and driven you were, especially when you were able to keep your cool while Claire, Harley and I were having flashbacks staring at the statues of our parents. And then when you started changing, you became kind, considerate, helpful and charming. I think that's when I really fell for you. And it didn't help that when you finally got rid of your mohawk you became as hot as the flames your family uses."

Hayden chuckled and said, "Wow. Thanks. I admired you too, how sweet, kind, honest and compassionate you became once Auradon transformed you. Quite the contrast from the girl I knew on the Isle. And I now think you're beautiful. But I never saw you as someone I'd want to date until now."

"Really? You like me romantically? And you think I'm beautiful?" Fran asked sheepishly.

"Yeah, I'm having a great time. And I do think you're beautiful. It's a shame your father forced you hide it for so long." Hayden said earnestly.

Fran's face turned sad as she said, "Yeah. I think my dad was afraid that if Claudine and I were beautiful, we'd end up seducing men, and we'd fall in love too and become good. He even made it a point to tell us everyday how hideous we were."

Ruby and Mason looked horrified, but Hayden, Harley and Claire nodded in a solemn understanding.

"Isle parents are the worst." Claire grumbled.

"At least they taught us how to be strong." Harley countered through a mouthful of spaghetti and meatballs.

"And now we're free and so are our siblings." Hayden added.

Fran's smile returned to her face and she said, "I hope all the VKs get to come over and have a chance at goodness and the happiness we've found."

"With all the horror stories you've been telling us about your lives on the Isle? I don't have a doubt." Mason said reassuringly.

Ruby cleared her throat and said, "Let's change topic, shall we? This is supposed to be a fun night out. I don't want anyone getting depressed."

"Right." Everyone else said.

They continued conversing throughout dinner and as they walked to the ice cream parlor, Hayden even working up the nerve to hold Fran's hand.

When they arrived, Fran and Hayden surprised each other again by ordering the exact same thing- dark chocolate brownie ice cream topped with chocolate syrup, whipped cream and a cherry on top.

When everyone had finished their ice cream and all of them walked back to the Auradon Prep campus together, Hayden pulled Fran into a huge hug when they reached the front doors.

"Thank you," he said once he let go of her, "I haven't felt this happy in ages and it's all because of you. You're amazing!"

"You...aren't pining for Mal anymore?" Fran asked, looking startled.

"Nah. Why would I need to when I've got _you?"_ Hayden asked, staring dreamily at Fran.

"To be honest, I haven't felt this happy in ages either. Do...do you want to this again sometime? Preferably with just the two of us?" Fran asked sheepishly.

Hayden kissed her forehead, turning Fran's face rose pink, and said, "I'd love to."

"Guys," Claire said, smiling fondly, "Hate to break this up, but if we don't head in now, we're going to get in trouble for staying out too late."

Hayden sighed and said, "Alright then. Good night, Fran. See you tomorrow."

"Good night, Hayden." Fran said, following Ruby and Claire inside.

"Girls, I can't thank you enough for this! I had an _amazing_ time and now Hayden's _finally_ into me! I owe you girls so much!" Fran said giddily to Ruby and Claire as they walked back to their dorms.

Ruby shook her head and said, "Don't sweat it, Fran. We just wanted to see you happy."

"And it seems that it worked." Claire said, smirking with amusement.

"Sure did. I hope Claudine finds love like this." Fran sighed wistfully.

 _The next day…_

Claudine was pacing back and forth in her dorm room, holding her head and mumbling to herself.

"Get it together...this isn't right...stop this!" she cried quietly, her frustration growing.

But it was no use. She couldn't get it out of her head- the sheer beauty of her beautiful raven wavy hair, her full lips that were as red as the roses she so adored, the cute colors her face turned, the way she looked so good in all her clothes, her wonderful personality when she wasn't being villainous.

"Gah!" Claudine cried, slamming her fist into a wall.

"What's gotten into you?" a voice behind her asked.

Claudine turned, and the obnoxious fluttery feeling she got in stomach, adrenaline coursing through her veins and tingling sensation in her cheeks as she took in the beauty that was her roommate, Harper Hearts.

Harper's dark eyebrows were furrowed in concern and her face beginning to turn pink as she looked at Claudine, and then squirmed uncomfortably and shook her head.

"It-it's nothing. I-I need to go." Claudine said, racing out of the room.

She had to resist the urge to kiss Harper as she caught a whiff of her rose scented perfume as she ran out and started crying as she realized the truth.

 _There's no use fighting it. I love her! I'm going to hell!_ Claudine thought to herself as she ran for her sister's dorm.

Claudine pounded furiously on the door and Claire slowly opened it, looking alarmed.

"Claudine, are you okay?" Claire asked.

Claudine shook her head and asked through her tears, "Is-is my sister in there?"

"I'm right here," Fran said, appearing at the door.

"Claire, can you give us some time alone?" Fran asked her roommate.

"Sure." Claire said, walking out the door as Claudine ran into her sister's chest.

Fran closed the door and gently walked Claudine to her bed where they sat and held each other, Claudine sobbing onto Fran's shoulder until she calmed down.

"Goodness," Fran said as Claudine pulled away and Fran offered her a tissue box, "I haven't seen you this openly upset in ages. What on Earth happened?"

Claudine took the tissue box, tried her eyes and blew her nose, and sobbed, "I...I'm going to hell."

"Claudine, you may have done some stuff that you're not proud of, but it's not too late to change and become better. You can put the past behind you here and-" Fran said gently.

"No, you don't understand!" Claudine cried, "I've fallen in love _with another girl!"_

Fran's eyes widened and lips parted in surprise and Claudine felt her heart shatter.

"So you're saying you're a lesbian?" Fran asked.

Claudine nodded, tears falling out of her eyes and said, "I-I understand if you hate me now. I don't blame you one bit."

"Claudine," Fran said, putting her arm around her sister, "Why would I hate you for falling in love? If anything, I'm thrilled."

"You're-you're thrilled? But Father said homosexuality is a sin against the Lord and anyone who practices it condemns themselves to hell for eternity. And doesn't the Bible itself say the same thing?" Claudine asked, her voice breaking.

"Father has always had twisted views of religion and the Bible. That's why he did all those things that ultimately got him killed and then sent to the Isle. And I read somewhere that the line in the Bible was mistranslated when it was first translated from Greek into English. That passage is actually supposed to speak against pedophilia. Besides, you know what the Bible is really about in the end? It's about unconditional _love_ not hatred. So, no, you're not going to hell simply for falling in love. If anything, that means you're finally becoming good." Fran said gently.

Claudine smiled and then frowned, "Becoming good should make me feel angry at myself. But...I don't feel angry."

"It's okay to be confused. I was for quite a while too when I first started changing. So were my friends and so were Mal, Jay, Carlos and Evie. It's perfectly normal. Don't worry. You'll find the path you're supposed to be on soon. And finding love is a great first step." Fran soothed.

Claudine wiped her eyes with a tissue, smiled at her sister and said, "Thanks Fran. For everything you've done for me here and on the Isle. I should've said that sooner. I'm sorry I was so rotten and ungrateful towards you. You're the best big sister ever."

"You're welcome. I'd do anything for you, Claudine." Fran said, ruffling her sister's hair and making her giggle.

"So, who's the lucky girl?" Fran asked.

"Harper Hearts." Claudine said, looking bashful.

Fran gasped and squealed, "Ooh, you two would make such a cute couple! You should tell her how you feel!"

"Are-are you sure? What if she doesn't feel the same way and I look like a fool?" Claudine asked.

"Well, you never know until you try! And you've never been one to let your fears rule you, Claudine." Fran said encouragingly.

Claudine nodded, a confident smile appearing on her face and said, "You're right. Thanks Fran."

"I love you, little sis." Fran said, hugging Claudine as she got up.

"I love you too, big sis." Claudine mumbled, hugging Fran back.

"Now," Fran said, withdrawing from Claudine's arms, "Go get Harper!"

"I will!" Claudine said, racing out the door.

 _At the same time…_

After Claudine left for no reason, Harper was left alone with her thoughts.

She couldn't stop herself from fantasizing about the Claudine's cinnamon sugar hair, soulful dark eyes, the confident way she carried herself and how pretty she was, making Harper's face get super hot.

A storm of emotions started churning inside her, everything from love to anger to frustration fighting for attention in her head.

At last, she couldn't take it anymore, her heart pounding and head aching from the turmoil inside, and picked up her phone to videochat with Harley.

"Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up!" Harper mumbled as his phone rang, trying to connect.

"Hey!" Harley said, looking surprised once he picked up, "Didn't think you'd call me like this. What's up?"

"I need your help." Harper said tensely, looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

Harley frowned and asked, "You're not planning on committing a crime, are you?"

"No, no!" Harper said quickly, "I genuinely have a problem I need your help with!"

"Oh okay. What do you need help with?" Harley asked, breathing a sigh of relief.

Harper's face turned rose pink as she stumbled, "Well, uh-uh, you see...I'm not sure how this happened and uh...I hope you don't hate me for this...but uh...I uh...uh."

"Just spit it out, Harper. You know you can tell me anything." Harley said kindly.

Harper took a deep breath and blurted, "I'm a lesbian. I've fallen in love with Claudine."

Harley's eyes widened in surprise and then he beamed.

"You really thought I'd be mad at you about something like that?! Harper, that's _fantastic!"_ Harley cried happily.

"No, it's not! Isn't homosexuality seen as sinful and something _no one_ should practice? And since Claudine comes from an ultra conservative and religious family, she'd probably be disgusted with me!" Harper said anxiously.

"Auradon's society has slowly become more accepting of homosexuals and other people who aren't straight. Less and less people are seeing at as blasphemous. And just because Frollo's ultra conservative and extremely religious doesn't mean Claudine and Fran are. They acted like it on the Isle because that's what their dad wanted from them, but look at Fran now. She's far from ultra conservative and religious to be point of Bible bashing whoever she disagrees with. And to be honest, I'm beginning to see that in Claudine, too. So, I don't think you have anything to worry about." Harley soothed.

"Do...do you think she could like me to?" Harper asked, her face going hot pink.

"I don't see why not. You two have a lot in common. You both come from horrid Isle parents, you both love fashion and looking good, there's much more to both of you than meets the eye and you're both learning how to be good. There's actually probably even more things that you have in common that neither of you realize yet. You should go for it." Harley said.

Harper was about to respond when there was a knock at her door and Claudine asked, "Harper? Are you still in there?"

"Gotta go." Harper told Harley before disconnecting the video call.

"Yeah, I'm here Claudine." Harper called.

Claudine came in, looking nervous and Harper could see the goosebumps on her skin.

"Hey." Harper said awkwardly.

"Hi. Uh, I need to tell you something." Claudine said anxiously.

"Me too actually." Harper admitted, "Let's count to 3 and say it at the same time, okay?"

Claudine nodded and said, "One,"

"Two," Harper counted.

"Three. I've fallen in love with you!" Harper and Claudine said simultaneously.

They stared at each other in shock for a few seconds, until Harper beamed and said, "You love me?! Really?!"

"Yeah." Claudine said sheepishly but with a smile on her face.

"Oh. My. Gosh!" Harper said, taking Claudine's hands, "I love you too!"

She gasped and said, "Does this mean we're girlfriends now?! Is your sister okay with it?"

"Yeah, is your brother?" Claudine asked.

"Yes! This is _perfect!_ Now we can finally hold hands and kiss and hug and be romantic! Ooh, our dates are going to be so much fun! We could have a tea party in the gazebo by the lake, or style each other's hair and watch chick flicks, or go shopping together, or ride horses, or take a fun class! Speaking of classes, we could totally work together on homework and help each other prepare for quizzes and tests and work on class projects together if our teachers let us and-!"

Harper suddenly got cut off by Claudine kissing her, rendering Harper senseless.

They both melted into the kiss and pulled away when they couldn't breathe.

"What was that for?" Harper asked, her face burning.

"I...I couldn't think of any other way to get you to stop talking without being mean." Claudine said, staring at the floor.

"Sorry. I tend to become a motor mouth and start rambling when I get excited or mad. At least now I have someone to stop me." Harper said gratefully.

Claudine pulled Harper into a hug and said, "I'm glad you're mine."

Harper hugged Claudine back and mumbled, "I'm glad you're mine, too."


	8. Hazel's Destiny

Chapter 8- Hazel's Destiny

Hazel was laying her bed in her dorm with Lucille, dreaming that she was a good dragon that was assigned to help protect Auradon.

She could feel her wings flapping and the incredible speed she was moving at to protect her school and friends from evil doers who had come to attack them.

She was just about to blow fire when a tickling sensation on her nose woke her up.

Hazel scratched her nose then heard a whispering noise and gasped, startled from her sleepiness.

Floating right in front of her was a wisp, looking exactly like what Claire had described when she told her Merida's story.

" _Shh,"_ the wisp said softly, " _Follow me."_

Fascination and curiosity filled her as she sat up in bed, watching the wisp float a little ways away and waved its arm, beckoning for her to follow.

" _Come on,"_ the wisp whispered, " _Come with me."_

Hazel quietly pulled back her blankets and tiptoed across the floor, trying not to wake Lucille.

She silently slipped on her shoes and followed the wisp through the school corridors and onto the back lawn, a cold night breeze blowing through her, making her shiver.

Hazel stopped at the edge of the woods where the wisp was leading her, fearing a trap or wild animals that might attack.

The wisp turned and said, " _Do not be afraid. No harm will come to you. Come."_

Hazel hesitated, still feeling uneasy.

She then remember what Claire had said about wisps being friendly spirits that guided people the way they had guided Merida when she was about her age.

Swallowing her fear, Hazel followed the wisp into the woods, the moon light and the light of the wisp illuminating the trail.

Slowly, as they ventured further in, more wisps appeared and fell into place around her until she was surrounded by wisps.

"Where are you all taking me?" Hazel dared to ask.

" _You will see soon enough. We are leading you to your destiny."_ the wisp to her left answered.

"What do you mean?" Hazel asked.

But none of the wisps responded, only kept leading her deeper into the forest.

Evently, they came to a clearing in the woods where a rock was being shined upon like a spotlight by the moon.

The wisps gathered around the rock as Hazel walked up to it and they said, _"Move the rock. Use your power."_

Hazel rolled up the sleeves of her shirt and pushed against it with all her might, but the boulder didn't budge.

" _No, no,"_ the wisps said kindly, " _Your magic. Use your magic."_

 _My magic?_ Hazel thought, staring at her hands, _How am I supposed to use magic to move the rock?_

She suddenly remembered the levitation spell that Hayden and Hadie had been telling her about and pointed both of her arms, palms out at the rock.

Hazel forced her will onto it, feeling the magic flowing through her and slowly the boulder started flowing a foot off the ground.

Hazel moved her arms to the right a bit, the boulder following her and then gently set the rock on the ground.

The wisps congratulated her, offering her their praise and she wandered over to the hole that had previously been covered by the rock.

Inside were two books, one with a brown leather cover with "Spells and Sorcery" written in gold, the other a green leather cover with "Potions and Alchemy" written in silver.

"Books of magic?" Hazel asked, pulling them from the hole.

" _Yes."_ a wisp said, " _You are destined to be a great sorceress, the one who bring magic back to Auradon. In time, you will be revered as Auradon's greatest protector and the most powerful magician of them all."_

" _Practice constantly and study hard. You will need the knowledge in these books for the perils ahead. Without you, they will fail and Auradon will be lost."_ another wisp warned.

"What do you mean? What perils? What threats are we going to be facing?" Hazel asked quickly, fear settling inside her.

The wisps shook their heads and said, " _We cannot say. We can only give you what you need to prepare. What happens next is entirely up to you and your friends."_

A wisp then flew up to her and said, " _You must return now, Hazel. Quickly, before they notice you're gone."_

"But how will I hide the books? I'll be in big trouble if someone discovers them!" Hazel protested.

" _Say 'conceal, don't reveal' and they will hide their secret. To undo it, say 'reveal, don't conceal'."_ the wisp advised.

"Conceal, don't reveal." Hazel echoed, staring at the book in her arms.

The covers on the books changed so that the book on magic and sorcery was now a book on fairy tales and the book on potions and alchemy was now an encyclopedia on all the animals and plants that lived in Auradon.

" _Now go, Hazel. Go and be the person you were meant to become."_ the wisps said.

Hazel nodded and ran back to her school, fear of being caught making her sprint faster and her heart run marathons in her chest.

She quickly and quietly tiptoed through the school hallways and closed her dorm door silently behind her, breathing a sigh of relief that she hadn't been caught.

"Hazel?" Lucille's voice asked, penetrating the silence.

Hazel gasped and almost dropped her books, her heart skyrocketing.

"What are you doing up?" Lucille asked, sitting up in her bed.

"I, uh...uh…" Hazel said, trying to come up with an excuse.

"I was having trouble sleeping so I went for a walk." Hazel said.

"Why are you carrying books in your arms?" Lucille asked.

"I borrowed them from the library." Hazel lied, feeling guilty about her lies.

"Hazel, you _know_ we're not supposed to be wandering around the school at night. If Fairy Godmother or a security guard had caught you, you'd have been in big trouble!" Lucille scolded.

"Sorry. I won't do it again." Hazel apologized.

Lucille sighed as she laid back down and said, "It's okay. Good night, Hazel."

"Good night." Hazel said, placing her books on her night stand and climbing into her bed.

"What do you mean you can't do anything?!" Claire asked.

Hazel was walking by the dorm Ruby shared with her sister Anxelin that morning when she heard Claire's voice from behind the door and paused.

"You're Rapunzel's daughters!" Claire continued, sounding upset, "You inherited your mom's gift of healing from the sun! And you can't fix Clay's vision?!"

"I'm sorry, Claire. I really wish we could help. But like we've said, our powers don't work like our mother's did. We can only heal non lethal sicknesses or wounds. We can't reverse death or aging or save lives or fix something like blindness." Ruby explained gently.

"What if you two tried working together? Aren't you two stronger together?" Clay asked, sounding like he was on the verge of tears.

"We are, it still wouldn't be enough. I'm sorry, but there's really nothing we can do." Anxelin said quietly.

Clay started sobbing at that and for the first time, Hazel felt pity in her once cold heart for him.

Claire gave an irritated huff and said, "Fine. Let's go, Clay. We'll have to find someone else to help you."

Hazel turned herself invisible as Claire and Clay walked to the door and left the Corona sisters dorm.

"This is hopeless!" Clay sobbed as Claire led him down the hall.

"Don't say that, Clay! We'll figure something out. There's got to be someone or something in Auradon that can help us. Don't lose hope, okay bro?" Claire soothed.

Their voices faded down the hall and Hazel reappeared, then sprinted back into her dorm.

"Reveal, don't conceal." Hazel commanded as she grabbed her books on magic.

The book covers changed and Hazel opened the book on spells, skimming through the pages for a spell that might help.

Nothing. Hazel let out a frustrated grunt and turned to her book on potions and alchemy, praying there would be something.

Still nothing.

"Thanks a lot, wisps!" Hazel grumbled, tossing her books aside.

They slid off the bed and onto the floor, a piece of paper falling from the book on spells.

Curiousity filling her, Hazel picked it up and read it.

 _To whoever discovers these books,_

 _Bless you for having the cleverness to find them and the courage to pursue the path of magic. Contained within these pages are all of the knowledge I have acquired over my years of practicing magic. Every spell and potion inside these volumes has been tried and tested over and over with successful results, so do not be afraid to use them._

 _However, my time on Earth is twindling and thus I must hide these books, lest fall into the wrong hands and become a weapon of evil._

 _I have left one last gift, though. Inside my volume of Spells and Sorcery, there is a page devoted to the bases of what makes a spell and inside my book on Potions and Alchemy, there is a chapter of all the potion making ingredients that exist and what effects they have. Once you have created a new spell or potion, a new page will be added to one of the two books._

 _Good luck to you, sorcerer or sorceress. May my wisdom serve you well._

 _~Concordia~_

 _So I'll have to discover it myself,_ Hazel thought, _A potion will probably work better than a spell in this case._

Hazel reopened the book on potions and read through it, making a list of the ingredients she thought would be useful, shoved the books in her bag and raced to the chemistry lab.

"Elixir of the sun, granulated crystal, moon lace…" Hazel said, adding the ingredients she gathered into the flame fueled cauldron.

She got the last item on her list and paused.

 _Tear of human sorrow...how am I supposed to get that?_ Hazel wondered.

She stood over her potion in the making, which was a fizzing lumpy royal blue and tried to summon the most painful memories she could.

Eventually her mind settled on all of the times Hayden had taken the blame upon himself for when she messed up and how many times he'd got burned as a result.

Hayden had been willing to do so much her and she rewarded him with nothing but selfishness and ingratitude.

Tears welled up in Hazel's eyes and one fell into the cauldron, making the potion boil like crazy and let off an incredible amount of steam.

Hazel jerked back at the sudden reaction and looked nervously at the door, fearing someone would hear her and intervene.

After a few seconds, the potion stopped bubbling and letting off steam. It became silent and still, not even making the smallest noise in the quiet room.

Hazel cautiously crept over to the cauldron, fearing another surprise reaction, and peered inside.

The potion had changed from royal blue to milk white and smelled like vanilla. Hazel stuck her finger in it and it felt warm.

Hazel breathed a sigh of relief that the potion hadn't been ruined, extinguished the flame, put the potion in a bottle and ran to the dining hall.

"And so there's nothing the Corona sisters can do even though they're Rapunzel's daughters! What are we supposed to do now?!" Claire snapped, tears in her eyes as she sat at the table with her friends.

"Maybe Fairy Godmother knows a spell that'll fix it?" Evie suggested.

Claire snorted and said, "Doubt it. We're not supposed to be using magic in Auradon. And besides, she only brings out her wand for special occasions like Ben's coronation or that meteor shower."

Hazel was standing outside the entrance to the dining room, listening to her friends conversation using an extended hearing spell from the book on spells.

 _I'm going to need to cause a distraction if I'm going to slip the potion in Clay's drink and not get caught._ Hazel thought, flipping through her spell book.

Eventually, she found a spell and turned to the table with the food and dishes, concentrating in the way her book told her to.

All the plates and utensils on the table suddenly stood up and started moving around the room and singing 'Be Our Guest'.

There were many shouts of confusion and panic, the dining room suddenly falling into chaos.

Hazel turned herself invisible and tiptoed through the crowd, careful not to make any noises that would give her away or bump into anyone.

Eventually she made it to the table the VKs were sitting all of them on their feet and staring in confusion at the dishware flash mob.

"Are you doing this?" Gold asked Mal over the song.

"No, I'm trying to make it stop! It's not working!" Mal cried, her eyes glowing green.

Hazel felt herself blush as she took sight of Gold. He was finally starting to get close to a healthy weight, revealing all the muscles that had been hidden by his scrawny physique. His wavy golden hair gleamed in the sunlight of Auradon and his horrible illness had finally gone away. He'd never looked so beautiful.

"Claire?" Clay asked, jolting Hazel back to reality, "What's happening?"

Hazel took advantage of Clay being distracted by Claire to spill the potion in his drink and dart back to the entrance of the dining room.

She snapped her fingers and the dishes stopped, fell back to their place on the table and fell silent.

"What was _that?!"_ Jay asked, looking perplexed.

"I don't know. But whatever it was, it was weird." Hayden said, mystified.

 _I need to make sure Clay drinks the entire potion at once._

Hazel used the thirst spell on Clay as he sat back down.

"Wow, I'm suddenly parched." Clay said, bringing his drink to his lips.

"Chug, chug, chug!" Hazel whispered as Clay took big gulps of his drink.

" _Wow._ You were _thirsty!"_ Carlos said when Clay had downed his drink.

"Yeah, I guess-!" Clay said.

He suddenly doubled over in pain and started screaming, covering his eyes.

Hazel gasped and ran to him, but hesitated and stayed where she was.

"Clay, what's wrong?!" Claire cried, bolting to her feet as her twin collapsed to the floor, everyone staring.

"My eyes feel like they're burning!" Clay screeched, writhing in pain on the floor.

 _What do I do? Should I help him? Should I not help him? Please don't be melting his eyeballs or something else that's horrible!_ Hazel thought, panicking.

After a minute, Clay stopped screaming, his breath returning to normal.

"Clay? You okay?" Fran asked, sounding worried.

"Yeah, I-!" Clay said, uncovering his eyes and gasping, backing up a bit in shock.

"Clay?" Claire asked, kneeling in front of him.

"Claire...I can see!" Clay mumbled, his voice hoarse with shock.

"Wh-what?!" Claire asked, flabbergasted.

"I can see!" Clay cried, beaming from ear to ear.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Claire asked, putting a hand in front of his face.

"Four. And your new hairstyle is _awesome!_ Who did those gray and white streaks? They're amazing!" Clay asked.

Claire squealed, tears of joy running down her face and tackled Clay with a hug.

"Whoa! Jeez, Claire! Don't hurt me!" Clay cried tears of joy falling from his face as well.

"Clay, that's fantastic!" Evie said, beaming.

"Yeah, but how did this happen?" Carlos questioned.

Hayden grabbed Clay's cup, got a drop on his finger and examined it with magic sight.

"There's some kind of potion in here." Hayden reported.

" _What?"_ Harley asked.

"Then those dancing dishes must've been a spell used to create a distraction to put the potion in Clay's drink while we weren't looking!" Evie concluded.

"But...who would do this?" Harper asked.

 _I should go in before anyone suspects anything._ Hazel thought.

She grabbed her backpack, turned herself visible and walked into the dining room.

"Hey, guys! Sorry I- Whoa, what's going on?" Hazel asked, pretending to be confused.

"Hazel!" Clay cried, getting to his feet, "I can see again!"

"What?! How?" Hazel asked.

The VKs explained to her and Hazel pretended to be listening intently, but in reality she was wondering what else she could do with her magic.

"That's really odd. I mean, I'm glad your sight is back, but it's strange how it happened." Hazel said.

"Yeah. By the way, where were you? Why didn't you come down to the dining room sooner?" Mal asked suspiciously.

"Oh, uh," Hazel said, thinking of a lie quickly, "Since I'm trying to better myself, I figured I'd try to catch up in Goodness 101, so I was working on homework and taking notes."

Her friends nodded in understanding and Hazel breathed a sigh of relief internally.

"Clay? Is it true you can see now?" Fairy Godmother asked.

"Yeah. Wow, you're younger than I thought! All of the villains on the Isle described you as a fat old lady." Clay said, looking surprised.

"Clay, that's kinda rude." Claire said cautiously.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to be offensive!" Clay apologized.

"It's okay. Now that you have your vision back, I'm happy to assign you to Goodness 102 class with your sister and most of your friends." Fairy Godmother offered.

"Yeah, I'd love to!" Clay said happily.

"Can I join too?" Hazel asked.

"You...don't consider yourself evil anymore?" Fairy Godmother asked, turning to her.

Hazel nodded and said, "Mal and my brothers helped me see that I don't have to live in my dad's shadow. So now that I'm free of his constraints, I want to develop myself and find out who I'm really meant to be."

 _Though I'm starting to have an idea._ Hazel thought to herself.

"Pass the Goodness 101 exam and then we'll talk. Harper, Claudine, would be interested in that as well?" Fairy Godmother asked.

Harper and Claudine looked at each other and Claudine said, "Uh, maybe. Give us time to think it over."

"Okay. You two make a very cute couple, by the way." Fairy Godmother said, noticing Harper and Claudine holding hands under the table.

They both blushed and said, "Thanks Fairy Godmother."

Fairy Godmother walked away and Clay asked Claire, "So, now that I can see, can you give me another tour of the school so I can get my bearings?"

"I'd love too! You'll love the garden, it's so beautiful!" Claire exclaimed.

Hazel smiled inside. Seeing Clay finally happy made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. She loved it.

 _I guess I am destined to be a sorceress. I wonder how else I can use my magic to help people?_ Hazel thought.

"Ugh, where is it?!" Audrey cried from her dorm.

Hazel peeked through the open door and saw Audrey frantically searching around her room for something.

"Gosh, I hope lose didn't my favorite scarf!" Audrey cried.

 _Audrey's going to be late for class if she doesn't find that scarf soon. I'd better help her._ Hazel thought.

"Find and retrieve." Hazel whispered, reading a page from her spell book and picturing Audrey's scarf.

Audrey's wardrobe opened and thin pale pink and baby blue scarf flew out, landing on Audrey's bed.

She turned and cried, "Oh, there it is! How'd it wind up on my bed? I could've sworn it wasn't here before."

Hazel spent the rest of the day attending her classes and discreetly helping students in whatever ways she could with her magic, trying not to draw any attention to her.

She loved the looks of joy and wonder what she was putting on people's faces, even though no one knew it was her.

For the first time, Hazel understood how it felt to be the center of attention for the right reasons. It was incredible.

"Has anyone else noticed something strange going at school?" Mal asked at dinner.

"What do you mean?" Harley asked.

"Well, think about all the stuff that's happened today. Clay's vision is back after years of being blind, the water fountain by the library that's been broken for ages suddenly works again, lost things are popping up out of the blue, the entire school's been warmer than normal and the cold symptoms that've been affecting some people are suddenly gone." Mal spouted, counting with her fingers.

Everyone at the table was silent, pondering until Carlos piped up, "What if it's magic?"

" _Magic?"_ Hazel asked, pretending to be confused, but her heart was racing.

"It makes sense," Freddie piped up, "Hayden said there was a potion in Clay's drink this morning that gave him his sight back and magic would explain everything else that's going on."

"Who's using magic?" Gold asked.

"Good question. There's a lot of students here with magic, so it's hard to say." Mal explained.

"Speaking of Clay, how is it having your vision back?" Hazel asked.

"I'm loving it!" Clay said enthusiatically, "There's so many new things to look and all of it's beautiful- the school, the garden, the forest and especially the girls."

The guys at the table chuckled at that and the girls rolled their eyes and shook their heads but smiled.

"I just wish I knew who did this so I could tell them thank you. This is a wish come true!" Clay continued, accidentally knocking his cup over and spilling his drink on Fran.

"Oops! Sorry!" Clay cried.

"It's fine. It was an accident." Fran said.

"Clay, grab some napkins and help clean it up." Claire said gently, reaching for the napkin pile.

 _I could clean this all up myself with my magic, but I can't use it in front of everyone._ Hazel thought, feeling frustrated.

"Aren't we not allowed to be using magic?" Gold asked as Fran and Clay cleaned up.

"Yeah, so whoever's using magic is probably going to be in trouble when they get caught." Mal said with a nod.

Hazel frowned and asked, "Even though they're using magic for good?"

"Hazel, you have magic. You know as well as I do how dangerous and addictive it can be." Hayden cautioned.

"Yeah, in the wrong hands. But plenty of good people in Auradon have magic- Fairy Godmother, the Three Good Fairies, Elsa, the Corona sisters, The Blue Fairy-!"

"Hazel, King Beast and Queen Belle banned magic because they didn't want anyone misusing it. You saw what I did when I had my magic spell book. I caused so much trouble and then I completely lost myself trying to please anyone. If everyone else used magic freely, they'd probably do what did and worse! It's just not worth it, using magic!" Mal argued.

 _You're wrong. That would only happen if people with magic aren't trained and taught to use their powers responsibly. Magic isn't a device of good or evil. It's an art that requires mastery, a skill needs practice in order to be used, a tool to bring about change or destruction, depending on who uses it._ Hazel thought to herself.

 _That's what I want to do. When I master magic, I want to teach others!_ Hazel realized.

But out loud, Hazel gave a defeated sigh and said, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Hadie put his hand on Hazel's shoulder and said, "I know it's a bummer. I wish we were free to use magic too. And I know that you've always been fascinated by magic. But, well, rules are rules."

Hazel looked around at the other VKs at the table. Half of the group looked like they agreed with Hadie, but the other half loeked skeptical.

 _Screw the rules! I'm a VK, I've never let rules stop me before! The wisps told me this is my destiny, and this is my gift I was born to use I'll rebel and do whatever it takes to reinstate magic. I'll keep practicing magic no matter what!_ Hazel vowed.


End file.
